Lucy's Heartbreak
by LyraKatori
Summary: Lucy and Natsu have been dating for almost 13 months, but the guild has been almost silent towards Lucy because of a secret that they are keeping for Natsu. He knows that it will hurt Lucy if she finds out, but Natsu is not aware that she witnessed his kiss with Lisanna. From that point on, what shall Lucy do? It's a one-shot for now, unless you guys want otherwise. Please review.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Lucy's Heartbreak<strong>

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><p>Lucy had arrived at the Fairy Tail guild this morning to meet up with her boyfriend Natsu for a job that she would go on with him and Happy, but she looked a bit surprised to see that the fire dragon slayer and the cute blue Exceed were nowhere to be found. It was not like them to miss the daily task of going on exciting jobs, having fun new adventures that might end in disaster, and Lucy Heartfilia was really surprised to see that her friends were not in the guild right now. Things were really quiet on this sunny morning with a clear blue sky, but perhaps things were a little too quiet.<p>

As the blonde mage began to walk into the guild, after having looked around the guildhall with her cocoa brown eyes while she had been standing in the doorway, the various conversations between many of the mages had abruptly come to halt when their eyes took notice of Lucy. Some people even looked a bit shocked to see her here, but the expressions on their faces did not show that it was a bad kind of shock. They seemed more surprised in a curious manner to see her still having a soft smile on her face, almost like they knew something that she certainly did not.

She tried her best to maintain the small smile, not wanting to break the awkward silence for any kind of drama to ensue, and Lucy walked over to a table near the bar where her friend Cana had been sitting. The two girls had become great friends, ever since Lucy volunteered to help Cana with the S-Class exam that had taken place on Tenrou Island back in X784, and Lucy was hoping that her brown-haired friend would be the one to tell her what the silence was all about. She had always taken a shower every morning, so she couldn't possibly smell bad. Lucy had always dressed in a stylish manner as well, and no one had ever been jealous. What was going on?

Even if she and Natsu had met up at the guild today, the quietness of the other people in the guild would still ensue while the pink-haired dragon slayer would laugh happily as he went on a job with Lucy. The eerie silence had been going on for six months now, and let's just say that Natsu admitted something to the guild six months prior to the start of the silence. He had admitted this little secret to the guild when Lucy had been too sick with a cold to go out on a job one day, and this was a pretty big secret that the guild was keeping from her. It hadn't really been that big of a deal to people, until Natsu actually started dating someone else while he had been dating Lucy as well.

See, after the Grand Magic Games of X791 had ended with Fairy Tail winning, Lisanna Strauss had come clean with her feelings about Natsu. She had really liked the way that he was always so strong, never wanting to give up in tough situations, and the white-haired mage had found herself attracted to his goofy grin. Natsu's dense but fiery personality had been something that made Lisanna love him, and he had always loved how good she looked in swimsuits. Natsu had also loved how kind and gentle Lisanna had acted, even being caring enough to soothe ferocious animals. He was on a job with her right now, but could he possibly show up right now for Lucy to see that?

Lucy had also loved how Natsu could be so fierce and determined at times, and the blonde mage had always found herself blushing a light shade of pink when he would rescue her from dangerous monsters or save her from bandits. Natsu and Lucy had even shared wonderful kisses of love when the jobs were done, and they would even sleep in Lucy's bed together on some nights. The fire dragon slayer would keep her warm with the heat from his body, but she also did not know that he had been sleeping with Lisanna as well. He had also been sharing kisses with her after missions, and Natsu had even bought Lisanna gifts while buying nothing for Lucy.

She had always thought that he was too busy spending all of his jewels on food, always using up his cash so fast, but that was definitely not the case. Lucy had been in love with a guy who she thought was the best guy ever, but her assumptions were wrong. She had trusted Natsu enough to never assume that there were any problems that could cause trouble in their relationship, and the possibility of him being a cheater had never even crossed her mind. She loved Natsu with all of her heart, but he had been loving Lisanna more and more with each passing day.

The blonde girl would even wake up to her bed feeling really cold with no warmth, obviously meaning that Natsu had left her apartment, and he had always told her that he goes out for hot coffee from the cafes in Magnolia every morning. The part about the coffee was actually true, but he only used its sugary deliciousness to meet up faster with Lisanna and continue their relationship. When Lucy arrived at the guild every day, Lisanna had pretended to walk out of Fairy Tail's entrance doors to supposedly go out on a job. However, she would simply turn into a bird while Natsu had wanted her to never feel left alone when he was making Lucy happy to give her a false sense of security.

Really, Natsu was a total cheater for doing this. He had told Lisanna to stalk him and Lucy from afar while they were on jobs, and the fire dragon slayer would sometimes go to a different part of town to make out with his blue-eyed girlfriend. He had always loved that calming look of sweetness in Lisanna's eyes, loving how her skin felt so smooth and warm while they would hug, but cheating on Lucy was not the right way to move on to someone else. He had not wanted to tell Lucy about how her performance on missions was nothing compared to how Lisanna was so fast and strong, and Natsu knew that breaking Lucy's heart would just cause total emotional chaos to break loose.

Lucy asked Cana in a calm manner while smiling softly, her ears taking in the fact that people were starting to chat again while discussing topics that were different from the ones that were being talked about before the blonde mage had entered the guild today, "Hi, Cana. Did Natsu show up to the guild today, or do you think that he could be running late? He knows that we do jobs together as a team, right?"

The brown-haired mage replied kindly, putting on a happy smile to not ruin Lucy's seemingly cheery mood while they sat down together at the table, "Natsu hasn't shown up to the guild at all, Lucy. Maybe he's just really busy with some things that he has to take care of, or maybe he's busy fighting off a group of bandits. After all, you know how he loves to fight in exciting battles. He could also be trying to find the right present for your twelve-month anniversary coming up, and you hopefully won't have to see him be happy twice in one month."

Cana quickly covered her own mouth after saying that last part, really hoping that Lucy had no clue about what that meant, but the card mage also could tell that her own purple eyes were showing a look that swayed between shock and guilt. She felt really horrible about not being able to tell her own best friend about how Natsu had been cheating on her with Lisanna, and it was mainly because Lucy was really sensitive with her emotions. Cana did not know how Lucy could ever handle the news of being deceived by the guy who she really loved, and trying to say comforting words after revealing such a big secret would only make things worse.

She could see on the corner of her left eye that Mira also looked nervous about how Cana had nearly let the news slip right out of her mouth, and the white-haired barmaid also knew that Lucy might not take it too well. Even though Mirajane was happy that her younger sister had finally found a boyfriend, she did not exactly expect it to be the guy who had already been dating Lucy. She wanted everyone to be happy, but Natsu was being totally deceitful to Lucy. Besides, it's not like fate was going to let Lucy be in the dark forever.

As she looked down at the cute black top that she was wearing, along with an orange miniskirt, Lucy gasped in shock while realizing that she had left her Celestial Spirit Keys at home by accident. The blonde mage had gone out of her apartment so fast to meet up with Natsu today, clumsily leaving her keys behind, and this would mean that she would now have to run back home to get them. Even though this was a slight setback to Lucy's chance of seeing her pink-haired boyfriend show up at the guild today, it would actually give her some more time for fate to make a way to let her see the truth about Natsu.

With happiness in her cocoa brown eyes, Lucy smiled a bit while telling Cana that she would be back after getting her keys from her apartment. She got up from the table, before proceeding to run out of the guildhall to go back home. As Lucy was about to run down the guild's stairs, however, she found herself suddenly having to jump down into a blueberry bush that was on the left side of the staircase. She wasn't exactly trying to practice her skills in hiding, but she had seen something very strange in that one moment before she decided to hide.

Natsu had been walking up the dirt path towards the guild, laughing happily about something, but Lucy narrowed her brown eyes while she had no interest in what was so funny. She wanted to know why her boyfriend had been holding hands with Lisanna, and she seemed to be blushing happily while he had licked some cake icing off of her cheek. She had rested her head against his left shoulder while they kept getting closer to the Fairy Tail guild, looking like a couple that was happily in love, and Lucy looked miffed at the sight of Natsu tickling Lisanna's rear with his other hand to get her blushing excitedly. He never did that for Lucy, and he certainly wasn't planning to.

Lucy could not believe how they were acting so cute together, but she wasn't paranoid enough to assume right away that there was something going on between Natsu and Lisanna. She needed to gather more information about this matter, and it had to be the correct info. Disinformation was something that had a tendency to be worse than having no information at all, and Lucy was going to find out exactly what was going on. Her smile had turned into a rather stern look, and Lucy's brown eyes had followed the duo while they were now walking up the stairs to the Fairy Tail guild. As they wasted no time entering the building, Lucy was glad that they kept the doors open.

Being around the blueberries had definitely had an effect on Lucy's scent, especially since these were magically-created blueberries that gave off the strong heavenly aroma of blueberry pancakes, and that would surely help her stay hidden from the sensitive noses of Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy while she would be doing her best to listen in on every single word that would be spoken in the guild. Natsu had to have some reason for coming back to the guild with Lisanna, and Lucy was pretty sure that there was no job simple enough to where cake just needed to be eaten. It was pretty obvious that they had been out somewhere, but what were they doing?

Erza asked Natsu in a serious tone while frowning at how the situation was dragging out for months now, seeing him and Lisanna smiling while they entered the guild, "Listen, Natsu. We all know that you're in love with Lisanna now, but how much longer will you two go out on jobs together while also trying to hide this from Lucy? I know that you don't want to hurt her, but how long do you plan to keep her in love with you? You do understand that either you or Lisanna will eventually have to tell her, right?"

The fire dragon slayer replied in a calm manner while him and Lisanna sat down at a table that was adjacent to the one where Erza had been sitting with Gray, "I know that I will have to tell her, but I just can't do it. Lucy is a really close friend of mine, and I just wish that it was possible to love two people at the same time. Even though my love for Lucy is really fading away, my romantic feelings are still intact for Lisanna. Ever since we shared that first kiss and bonded after the Grand Magic Games, Lisanna and I are becoming more and more into each other. As for Lucy, I just don't feel it anymore. Even when we sleep together, she just isn't as sexy and wonderful as Lisanna can be."

Cana added with a stern facial expression, still hoping to keep her friendship with Lucy intact, "You know, Lucy will probably do something for your twelve-month anniversary. In fact, I'd say that you're pretty lucky to have kept two relationships going for so long. However, Natsu, you shouldn't get too comfortable. Your luck might have some flaws to it, and your streak of safety with this love triangle might come to an end. After all, you've been dating Lucy for almost thirteen months now while you've been dating Lisanna for almost seven months now."

The white-haired girl responded nicely while looking at Natsu with feelings of worry in her beautiful blue eyes, "I really love Natsu, though, and I hate seeing him get stressed out about this. Last Wednesday, he even told me on the beach that I was the girl who he wanted to be with. Natsu, you've been saying how you love my kindness and strength. I love how nice and strong you are as well, my sweet love, and I never want to let you go. You're not alone in this, Natsu, and Lucy is our friend. We just have to prepare a nice way of telling her that the choice has now been made."

Knowing that Lisanna would not let him do this alone, Natsu could only smile with joy before giving her a passionate kiss on the lips. Lucy could hear them sighing happily while their lips had pressed together, and the feeling of their love had made her feel very sick. She even got up from the blueberry bush to walk up the stairs to find out if she was dreaming, but this was no dream. She saw Natsu shirtless while he had been wearing his red swim trunks, and Lisanna had been wearing a pink and black two-piece plaid bikini. They seemed to have come back from the cafe after going to the beach for some fun, since there were no signs of money from their "job".

As Lucy saw them sharing that kiss, her heart broke into many pieces. She could only watch as tears welled up in her eyes while seeing Lisanna's cheeks blush as she was kissing Natsu, and Lucy began to see why people had always been so silent whenever she would be around. The guild knew that Natsu had been cheating on her, and nobody had ever said a thing. They had all been hiding it from her for nearly seven months now, but Lucy felt like the past year of her life was just wasted on a guy who did not care for her at all. She could only jump back down near the blueberry bush, before running back home to let out all the shock and hurt feelings that she was now experiencing.

After Natsu and Lisanna had broken their romantic kiss, the tanned male's nose detected something that smelled sweet like blueberry pancakes. That was normally how Juvia Lockser smelled, since she tended to use blueberry shampoo to smell good for Gray, but Juvia was too busy admiring the shirtless ice mage to even pay attention to the current situation of Natsu's love triangle. No one had even thought that Lucy would be back soon to hear the news from Natsu, but she had heard every word. She was probably really hurt by how Natsu had said how Lisanna was better, and that must've really made Lucy feel inferior. Since Natsu didn't want her, how was she handling it?

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><p><strong>At Lucy's apartment...<strong>

Lucy had ran all the way to her apartment with tears in her eyes, and she angrily opened the door before quickly slamming it shut. She was feeling hurt, angry, confused, jealous, distraught, and Lucy's heart had broken. She was emotionally hurting right now, and Lucy even took a photo of herself and Natsu out of the frame to tear it up into pieces while she screamed in pure anger at the fact that he had kissed another woman while being with her for nearly seven months. Those were the months where he had been leading Lucy on, and he had been lying to her. The guild had lied to her, and all of those people were supposedly her friends.

Her cocoa brown eyes widened in shock upon remembering when Cana had covered her mouth after saying that Natsu would be happy twice in one month, and that is what she had meant. He would just celebrate with Lucy to continue lying to her, but he would certainly be enjoying his anniversary day with Lisanna. The thought of those two even eating together or cuddling together had made Lucy feel complete sorrow, but she still felt anger at the fact that they would be having such a sweet and happy relationship while she had meant nothing at all to Natsu.

In fact, Natsu and Lisanna had even gotten friendly before Fairy Tail had won the Grand Magic Games. They would always be having discussions about the movies that they liked, the favorite kinds of music that they enjoyed to hear, the video games that they had both enjoyed playing together, and Lucy remembered it all. Natsu and Lisanna had even gone to a bookstore for manga in Crocus one morning, and Lucy could only watch through a glass window while they were drinking lattes as they giggled to each other about certain things. Lucy slammed her fist against the wall of her bedroom for missing so many signs of foreshadowing, and she hated herself for trusting Natsu for so long.

She shouted angrily while throwing a blue vase at the wall, tears continuing to make their way down her face as her body trembled with wavering emotions, "I was so stupid to never notice how he always had to leave me in the mornings, and he always had to leave me after we got jobs done to go somewhere else! I even smelled perfume on him one time, but I mistook it for cologne! How could I be such an idiot to not notice the signs that had been coming my way?! All this time, he had been wanting her! He never wanted me as his girlfriend, and they were probably kissing at the beach! He was always out of money because he always spent it on her, I bet!"

The blonde mage was breathing heavily while her eyes had turned red and puffy from crying so much, and she was really upset about the way that Natsu had cheated on her with a woman who he thought was better than her in every way. What did Lucy ever do to deserve such harshness from her own boyfriend? She had been so nice and caring towards Natsu, and now he had made his choice. The pink-haired male wanted the younger Strauss sister to be his true girlfriend, and he had always been spouting lies to Lucy. If she wasn't needed by him or a bunch of people who chose to keep secrets from her, then why would she need to deal with Natsu's lies anymore?

Heading straight to the kitchen, Lucy had a plan to get her revenge on Natsu. She was going to let him know that his actions had caused bad karma to befall him, and Lucy was also going to disappear from the guild of people who had totally given her the impression that everything was fine in her relationship. She had truly thought that Cana was her best friend who could tell her anything of importance, no matter how big the matter truly was, but Lucy had been wrong. Her poor judgement had now shown its consequences, but she was going to make up for them by showing Natsu that he was about to regret what he had done.

Lucy had been looking at the knives on her kitchen counter for a few minutes now, having the idea that taking her own life would make Natsu and the guild feel incredibly horrible for what they had done to her, but the blonde mage actually shifted her cocoa brown eyes to a yellow flag that was attached to one of the doors on the kitchen cupboard. It was a flag from the Grand Magic Games, and Lucy had actually bought this flag from one of the stands to show her support for Sabertooth when they had been in matches that weren't against Fairy Tail. Of course, she had never actually used it in public. Lucy had been lucky that Natsu never went in her kitchen to see it, you know.

If he had seen it, he would definitely throw a fit. However, the current situation really did not give him the right to really gripe about anything. He had cheated on Lucy with Lisanna, wanting to be with the girl who had seemed to be much more fun and enjoyable to him, so Lucy was going to leave his life for a while. She was also going to leave the lives of everyone in Fairy Tail for keeping her in the dark about Natsu's new love, and she didn't even want to know if the guild would give a cake to the happy couple for reaching their seven-month anniversary. If Lucy was there to see that cake, she smirked a bit while not doubting the high chances of her puking on it to show Natsu and the guild how her emotions would not be kept secret like Natsu's love affair.

**How did you like this one-shot? It's not like typical Lucy/Natsu/Lisanna love triangles where the sadness leads up to her dying, but she will join Sabertooth. I don't know if you guys would be interested in hearing about my personal life, but I got cheated on and dumped yesterday. After thinking about what I should do, I decided to write this because of how I felt. Feel free to review, and let me know if I should update it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>The Winds of Change<strong>

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><p>After she had seen Natsu and Lisanna kiss right before her eyes on what was supposed to be a pretty great morning, Lucy had spent the entire night packing her suitcase for the journey that she was about to embark on. She was planning to leave Magnolia to reach Rustboro, a port town where the guild of Sabertooth had resided, and Lucy knew very well that those people were the rivals of her former friends from the Fairy Tail guild. If she would be accepted in Sabertooth, then there would be nothing for her to really worry about.<p>

It would truly be the perfect way to get payback on the people who had the nerve to keep Natsu's affair with Lisanna from reaching the ears of Lucy, and she would definitely not be sad to be leaving them behind. She was still mad at herself for putting so much trust into a guy who she had really liked, only for him to throw it all away because he thought that Lisanna was so much better, and Lucy never wanted to go through that kind of pain ever again. She could even bet that those two were sleeping together right now, happily cuddling together while sharing sweet kisses.

Lucy let out a sad sigh while she stared up at the ceiling, laying in her bed while she wore her cute pink pajamas. She definitely was angry with Natsu, but she was also having doubts about herself as well. If he had also liked Lisanna for being strong, then had Natsu always thought that Lucy was weak? A frown appeared on her face while she also had to wonder if that's what her former friends in the guild had thought as well. Lucy knew very well that she used ten of the Golden Zodiac Gate Keys to be able to get some assistance on jobs, but that did not make her completely weak.

She could only open up two gates at one time, draining most of her magical power and physical strength in the process, and the negative thoughts in her mind were preventing Lucy from going to sleep easily. The blonde mage did not exactly know that anger came with depression sometimes, and she turned on her side to stare out the window at the night sky while wondering about what she could do to improve herself. She did not want to become stronger to impress Natsu, but Lucy wanted to get better to show herself that she could change.

Narrowing her cocoa brown eyes, she kept remembering all of the times that Natsu always had to go somewhere. He was always leaving her in the mornings, or saying that he was going to be busy for a few hours, but he had always been sneaking around behind Lucy's back to be with Lisanna. He had wanted to break up with Lucy, but it wouldn't exactly be a good move for him to say that he was leaving Lucy to be with Lisanna. The celestial wizard felt really idiotic for always believing every single lie that the fire dragon slayer had sent her way, and she knew that the trust between them had now been broken.

As Lucy hated Natsu for deceiving her, she also had to keep thinking about her plan. If she had left without saying a word, that would surely make people get suspicious about her absence in the guild. However, she could always leave a note to someone that she had trusted. The only members who had not been in the guild earlier were Wendy and Carla, most likely having been out on a job at the time, and they also weren't really bent on remembering secrets about a person's love life. Wendy and Carla did not really care for love that much, but they had also stayed neutral to not get on the bad sides of Natsu or Lucy.

While it was good to know that Lucy could still consider those two as her possible friends in Fairy Tail, she also had to wonder if anybody would ever like her later on in the future. Lucy knew that there were decent guys and girls out there, but who was the one for her? She knew that there were many different personalities, since there were many people in Fiore, but what guy or girl would be attracted to her? Also, would the person be faithful enough to not cheat like Natsu? Lucy had to think about so many different factors that could affect a relationship, and she groaned in frustration while trying her best to fall asleep.

Her depression had eventually lost out to Lucy's feelings of stress and fatigue, causing the blonde girl to pass out while she laid in her comfy bed, and she began sleeping soundly after a few minutes. While Lucy looked depressed as she slept, she did not even hear the sounds of glass breaking in the distance while her former guild seemed to be having a party for Natsu and Lisanna getting their 100th job done. The music had not been loud enough to be blaring in Lucy's ears, but she had been able to hear it before she lost consciousness. The guild had been rowdy, but not to the point where glass had ever been broken.

Resting comfortably in her bed, the brown-eyed girl could not even hear the wind faintly blowing outside of her apartment. This wasn't a normal nightly breeze that would pass through Magnolia, especially if the winds gathered up in a spiraling tower for a few moments. They weren't powerful enough to blow the glass out of Lucy's home or tear the roof off of her apartment, so that was a good thing. These winds seemed to be made by magic, and the person who was making them had stepped out of the windy tower before quietly snapping the fingers on her left hand to dispel it. She walked a few steps forward to look inside the bedroom window, a smirk appearing on her face.

This woman had long wavy green hair that fell to her hips, green eyes, and she wore a purple midriff top with a long black skirt to match. Her flat shoes were violet, and this woman also seemed to have a cute purple bow in her hair. She had a scheming look on her face while she put her left hand near her left ear, and she maintained her smirk while the wind kept on blowing. It almost seemed like she was able to speak to the wind, understanding what was being said to her, and let's just say that this woman had also known Lucy from a past incident.

_"_My, my. What a beautiful blonde young girl, yet she seems so saddened by something. She reminds me of myself from when I had no power at all, and I would spend my days crying or eating chocolates. However, _the scent of strawberries and vanilla with the personality of seeming so innocent... This maiden is quite perfect for the lady's plan, especially since she's been wanting a fairy in our guild for a while now. It won't damage our reputation, after we make her become one of us."__ _The woman thought to herself while grinning in a plotting manner, before vanishing in the wind.

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><p><strong>Seven hours later...<strong>

Lucy woke up to the sound of her alarm clock ringing loudly, shaking while it was next to a stack of papers that the blonde girl had been writing for a new novel, and she shut off the alarm clock with her left hand. She sat up in the bed while letting out a loud yawn, and the sunlight shined down on Lucy's face. Daylight had now made her apartment look brighter, and Lucy stretched her body out while feeling her muscles click and pop. She raised her arms high above her head, and Lucy had hoped that today would be a better day than yesterday.

She had dreamed about nothing, really, since she had been so exhausted from the stress that her dense ex-boyfriend had caused her. Lucy even felt like it would be a good idea to go the guild, mainly for the purpose of telling him that she was going to be out of his life for a long time, but even seeing him with Lisanna would just make Lucy feel upset. Just because Lisanna was stronger and faster than Lucy was, that still did not give Natsu the right to cheat on her. Even if Lisanna was kinder, making him feel so happy in every moment that they were together, that did not mean Lucy couldn't have done the same.

She heard her stomach growl louder than normal, most likely because she did not have dinner last night, and Lucy made up for that mistake by quickly going to the kitchen for breakfast to be made. She took four waffles out of the freezer, putting them in the white toaster that was plugged in on the kitchen counter, and Lucy pulled the lever down to let her waffles go down into the toaster to be cooked to perfection. They were blueberry waffles as well, so they would certainly be tasting delicious after they were done.

While the waffles were getting heated up, Lucy smiled a bit as she remembered that a message had to be left to Wendy and Carla. They were still her friends, after all, and Lucy wanted them to know that she was still their friend as well. She had a calm look in her cocoa brown eyes while she went back to her desk to get a pen, and Lucy also got a blank piece of paper to write on. She knew that the next boat to the town of Rustboro was leaving in 45 minutes, so Lucy wrote the letter fast while she also knew that she had to be neat with her penmanship.

Her suitcase had been packed with most of the clothes from her closet, and it was also filled with some food that she could eat on the boat. She had to leave everything else behind, however, but that did not matter to Lucy. She was going to hopefully have a new start in the guild of Sabertooth, wanting to be in a place where people would not hide important info that she needed to know, and the blonde mage began to feel confidence build up inside of her while she knew that it would be a good move to join the rivals of her new foes.

Lucy also wrote a letter to her landlady, letting her know that she would no longer be paying her monthly rent of 70,000 jewels, and that meant that she would not have to worry about paying rent every month. She was planning to also check out other guilds, just in case things would not work out in the Sabertooth guild, and it would be like a vacation for her to be exploring other lands while being free from a cheating guy like Natsu. Lucy cheered happily to herself, knowing that this plan would probably go really well, but it was about to come to a halt with a few knocks on her apartment door. Who could be wanting to visit her so early in the morning?

She would be a bit pleased if Natsu and Happy had the manners to knock, instead of breaking in like how they had always done, but she would still not be glad to see her pink-haired ex. If he wanted anything, even for her to give him blood while he was dying, she would still refuse to help him at all. Besides, if there was something he needed, couldn't he simply ask his more important girlfriend Lisanna to help him? Even though she hadn't officially broken up with Natsu, Lucy quickly got a frying pan from the kitchen and she was ready to completely beat the crap out of him.

"Natsu, I heard all about how much you love Lisanna! I was listening in on your conversation yesterday, you jerk, and I don't ever want to see you ever again! You cheated on me, and you're a-" Lucy shouted with a stern facial expression, tension in her brown eyes, before noticing that she was talking to the wrong person.

The woman with wavy green hair had appeared in front of her apartment, retrieving a green book that was solidified by the winds before Lucy had opened the door, and the mysterious lady had held it in her hands while smiling a bit to not arouse any suspicion from Lucy. There was also a pink envelope placed on the book, too. Lucy could read upside-down letters pretty easily, and that envelope had been addressed to her as well. What was going on? Had Natsu ordered something from a catalog and put the delivery and payment to go to Lucy's address while writing down the wrong name of the intended recipient?

"Hello there, young lady. I am Heidi Harmonia, a traveling merchant who sells many items that people would really desire. You seem to be a fairly cute and innocent girl, probably the nicest person from the nearby guild of Fairy Tail, and I am requesting your help. By the way, you should take this envelope. It's an invitation from my lady, and she's been wanting another member to join our guild." The mysterious woman told Lucy while she calmly smiled and handed the pink envelope to the blonde female, keeping her act going.

When Lucy asked Heidi about the help that she needed, the woman with wavy green hair demonstrated her problem by trying to open the green spell book in her hands. It wasn't budging one bit, not even opening at all, and Heidi gave up after her fifth attempt. She also told Lucy that the mighty Erza Scarlet couldn't even help her open it, making the blonde mage wonder who would make a book like that. She gazed down at the book, wondering why it would be sealed shut like that, and there were no screws inserted into it. The book seemed just fine, so why wouldn't it open?

Lucy told her in a concerned tone, having worry in her brown eyes as she saw Heidi's hands looking sore, "That really is a problem for you, but I still don't understand why the book won't open. I mean, you should just get some grease and-"

"The green book of spells has a magic seal on it that will only be broken for a mage whose magic speaks of its owner having a heart that shows kindness and beauty like a red ruby, and the mage must also have a pure soul that is like a sea uncontaminated by malice. Think of it like needing a red ruby and a blue sapphire, but your mind must also be green and bright like an emerald. If someone like me tries to open the book, it won't work. You should see if you can open this book, young lady. If you are able to do so, you may have whatever is inside. It would probably be of no use to someone like me." Heidi interrupted and explained while still remaining calm, seeing the pureness in Lucy's eyes.

It wouldn't hurt to give it a try to help out a person who nicely made this request, so Lucy gently took the book from Heidi's hands and looked at its melon green color for a moment. The book looked beautiful to Lucy, seeing it as some great reading material she could have in the guild while she would be enjoying her new life, and and the blonde girl smiled a bit while placing her left hand on the green book's front cover.

Much to her surprise, and to Heidi's delight, green beams of light shined brightly from the book when Lucy had been able to open it. She gasped in awe at the weird writing on the first page, seeing it to be in a possibly olden language because of the characters looking like nothing she had ever seen. The first two lines of words on the first page were in a melon green color while the rest of the page and the pages following it were also in black text. Lucy found herself able to understand the words in green, but not the words in black, despite never having seen either language before.

Lucy read from the green book in a happy manner, excitement in her cocoa brown eyes, "First spell of Wind Magic, I call upon thee! Bullet Tornado!"

In an instant, a small green tornado formed in the palm of Lucy's right hand. It was swirling around in a clockwise manner, before flying straight up off of her hand to hit one of the birds that flew over Magnolia in a flock of seven. She thought that spell was a bit cute, and Lucy did it five more times as a little bit of a warm-up exercise for any future jobs that required target practice. The tornadoes hit the birds from below, but nothing seemed to really happen. Even so, Lucy's aim had gotten a bit better than how it was yesterday.

Heidi looked a bit happy from this result, and she could see that Lucy was now excited about the new power that she was now wielding. Heidi had not told Lucy about which guild had she was now invited to, but she smirked a bit from the winds making an image of the Sabertooth insignia for her eyes to quickly see before the winds broke apart quickly. The other spells would probably be better than the first one, and Lucy couldn't wait to try them out. She smiled happily at Heidi, thanking her for showing up at her doorstep with this life-changing book, and Lucy ran inside quickly to zip up her black suitcase. The ship to Rustboro was leaving in 20 minutes, and Lucy hurriedly ran down to the harbor.

Unknown to Lucy, however, her five Bullet Tornadoes from earlier weren't just like little breaths of wind striking the birds from below. They made five miniature green blasts of energy transpire, destroying the birds while sending them flying high into the air, and the sound of the blasts had gotten the attention of many people. Erza and Gray had even come running from a nearby street because of the noise, but all that they managed to see was white feathers falling down to the ground slowly. Heidi had used the spell's delayed effect to sneak inside Lucy's apartment, closing the door behind her without a sound, and she smirked deviously while continuing to scheme.

_"That went well, and I'm quite glad to have finally found the girl who can make our guild get the redemption that we deserve. After all, that guild of friendship power-ups was totally godmodding in last year's Grand Magic Games. I certainly hope that Lucy will make our guild be victorious, and she'll be doing a lot more along the way. The Victory Road is the road where the lady will want to be going on, but her goal and my plan shall eventually intersect." _Heidi thought to herself, giggling a bit before she heard the sounds of waffles popping up out of the white toaster to signal that they were finally ready to show off how they could be just as sweet as revenge.

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><p><strong>All right, I'll expand this from a one-shot like how you guys wanted. Anyway, did you like this chapter? Sorry if it's short, and Heidi is my newest OC. I also know that the concept of Lucy having a spell book might be cliched, but there will be some spells where you might not even think they could be possible. Anime physics, I guess. By the way, I'm also a bit cheered up by the fact that the Hoenn remakes will be officially out in November! Also, since this story is a romance, feel free to suggest any ideas for future chapters or fan-made omakes!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Good Things Come, Even If You're Unaware of Them<strong>

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><p>Lucy had been running down to the harbor of Magnolia for a few minutes now, and she was not exactly fast. The blonde mage was trying to reach the next ship that would be scheduled for the town of Rustboro, and she certainly did not want to see it set sail without her. Lucy narrowed her brown eyes while she had been running, going as fast as her energy would allow, but she had also been pulling her black suitcase behind her. It had quite a lot of things in it, mainly her food and clothes that had all been folded neatly, and those were things that could not be left behind.<p>

As she ran past a few flower shops on a street in Magnolia, Lucy's cocoa brown eyes had caught sight of them. They all looked so beautiful, having their shops smelling wonderful with the many fragrances of various flowers, and the blonde mage's running had come to a halt when her body had told her to stop. It was nice to see that all the flowers were being treated with love and care, things that Lucy had hoped to find when she had joined the guild of Fairy Tail, but the flowers had much better luck than she did. They had people helping them grow stronger with daylight and positive energy, not keeping them in the dark to let them wilt and die in sadness.

Clenching her left fist tightly, Lucy could only growl at the fact that she saw happy couples walking out of the florist shops with many bouquets of flowers. Even seeing Gajeel presumably buy a sapling in a small pot of soil as a little gift for Levy was enough to make Lucy look envious, but she had no romantic feelings towards the tough iron dragon slayer. Her attention had mainly been focused on the plant, imagining it as the love that she had shared with Natsu, and their relationship was like a few seeds in a flower pot that had bloomed into many daffodils.

However, Natsu had then decided that the daffodils were not good enough. They were not the ones that he wanted, so the fire dragon slayer had decided to help his new girlfriend grow some red roses in a much larger pot of soil. He had been taking great care of the roses, hoping that they would have every day filled with brightness, but did that dense jerk even care about the daffodils that were now wilting? Natsu probably would be cheering happily when the news of Lucy being gone reached his ears, and then him and Lisanna could smell their little roses of deceit together while taking in their aroma of happiness.

Shaking her head quickly, Lucy realized that she had to get back on track with her task of not missing the next boat headed for the port town of Rustboro. She would never reach the harbor in time by simply running, even though she had to wait for her energy to recharge, and Lucy inhaled a breath of air. In a few seconds, the blonde mage suddenly felt herself become revitalized with air in her lungs. Lucy had never healed that fast before, and she looked a bit curious while wondering if that new little trick had something to do with the green book that Heidi had given her.

Not planning to waste time with figuring out the effects of the other readable spells, if she had gained anymore, Lucy simply kept on running to the harbor. She was definitely filled with energy again, most likely because of the Wind Magic in the green book, and the blonde mage continued her sprint to the boat. She probably only had at least 12 minutes left before the boat would leave the port of Magnolia, so she really had to hurry. Lucy was wanting something to go right today, instead of having another moment of shock in her life, but she had tempted fate upon turning a corner to slam into the one person who she really wanted to avoid.

"Ouch! Lucy, watch where you're going! You slammed into me like you're in a total rush, but I told you two days ago that we were going to go on our next date later today! Anyway, you're so sweet and I love you. If your bed needs to be warmed up, then let's sleep together and-" Natsu had told her in a kind tone with his usual goofy grin, extending his left hand to try and help her up from the ground.

Lucy was able to stand up on her own, but what happened next was a real shock to Natsu. Lucy glared angrily at him, before giving him a harsh slap across the face with most of her anger focused into that slap. It made a resounding sound that got the attention of the people on the street, some of them even seeing Lucy slap Natsu, and this drama was definitely about to unfold. Lucy had tears streaming down her face from feeling the pain of her harsh collision with Natsu, but she felt more pain from having to encounter him on her way out of this town. On the bright side of this, wouldn't it be good for Lucy to actually break up with the fire dragon slayer before searching for a new love interest?

She shouted fiercely at him, jabbing the index finger of her left hand against his chest, "I don't want to sleep with a jerk like you, Natsu, and I am furious with you and the whole guild of Fairy Tail for not telling me about how you had been cheating on me with Lisanna! Did you really think that I would never find out about how you two were going to have your little seven-month anniversary? Did you think that I wouldn't notice how the people in the guild have become quiet around me, and you even made a friend like Cana betray me to keep your little affair in the dark from me! Well, we're through! I never want to see you ever again!"

Natsu replied in a shocked manner while not having thought that she would find out so soon, secretly wondering about who had been the snitch to reveal his new relationship to Lucy, "I can't believe that someone with loose lips would tell you about Lisanna before I did, Luce! I really wanted to come clean about the affair to you, but you're so fragile and weak that you'd overreact about it. Even if I said that I wanted to break up with you, you'd just be a crybaby and throw a massive tantrum like what you're doing now. You're just not as fun or as sweet as Lisanna can be, and I'm glad that you're dumping me. It saved me the trouble of having to dump you."

He had really picked the wrong choice of words in his response, and Lucy narrowed her cocoa brown eyes from hearing that jerk describe her as fragile and weak. She could definitely handle the news, and Lucy was certainly not throwing a tantrum at all by expressing how she felt. She could only wish that it was possible to get away from this scene, with everyone staring at her to see what she would say, so Lucy closed her eyes while wishing that she could just vanish. Suddenly, a large green cloud of smoke had been made around the blonde girl! It made Natsu step back into an area where he could see all of the smoke, and he wondered if Lucy was trying to distract him.

The smoke cleared up quickly to reveal that Lucy and her belongings were no longer in the spot where they had originally been, and Natsu looked very puzzled about what had just happened. He could've sworn that he was talking to the real Lucy, not a joker dressed like her with smoke bombs at their disposal, and Natsu sniffed the air to detect her scent. The spot where had been standing definitely smelled like strawberries and vanilla, but the fire dragon slayer could not tell where she had gone. He assumed that she had went to Fairy Tail for the removing of her guild mark, but would she be that predictable?

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><p><strong>At the harbor...<strong>

Lucy opened her eyes to see that she had now ended up at the harbor of Magnolia, smelling the salty air while feeling the ocean breeze gently pass her by, and she smiled a bit while wondering how she had gotten here. Lucy wanted to get away from Natsu, but she did not think that it could actually be done in a way that involved the use of Magic. She did not know any Teleportation Magic, but the spell that had been used was not one that focused around teleporting. This was actually the second spell that belonged to Wind Magic, and it was known as Vanishing Breeze.

The name might've sounded a bit weird, but it had allowed Lucy to move through the air to reach wherever she wanted to go. It could be used to blow Lucy in any direction to evade attacks, and this spell could also be used to push people backwards for long-range attacks to be more effective. Lucy did not know that she wielded a book that was meant as a basis for Molding Magic, shaping the magic into whatever the user wanted the moves to be, and she could also set the power and effects of those moves. It was quite useful for convenience, but even this book had rules on how it could be used.

Upon looking at the cute heart-shaped pink watch on her left arm, Lucy noticed that the current time was now 7:50 a.m. in the morning. The last boat to the town of Rustboro had already set sail, having left while Lucy had unfortunately been arguing with her dense pink-haired ex, and she could only guess that he had been on his way to buy some flowers for the new love of his life. There was no doubt that almost nothing had been going Lucy's way today, but it could have actually been worse if she had missed the boat and got soaked with water.

The angry look on her face could let anyone know that she was really upset to find out that Natsu had been cheating on her, and she was even more miffed to know that he had been preferring Lisanna over her for a while now. Lucy had heard the saying about being happy for two people who want to be in love, but how could she be happy at all to see the guy who she liked being a complete backstabber? It was almost like those thirteen months of romance were all for nothing, and she had just squandered away all of her time with a guy who had lost his feelings for her. She was glad to have broken up with him, but being the dumper had its side effect.

Now that Natsu was probably on his way back to the Fairy Tail guild, would he tell everyone that Lucy had been the one to dump him? He would also say that she threw a big tantrum about how he had been cheating on her, but he had never asked her about how she discovered his little love affair with his white-haired princess. This meant that he would most likely be assuming that someone had let it slip to her, but he would not know who had done it. In an ironic twist, he had actually been the one to let Lucy know that he'd been cheating on her. If he had never discussed the situation with Erza and the others or kissed Lisanna, then Lucy never would've found out about the affair.

As Lucy felt pretty angry about this whole thing, she looked at the green book to imagine up another spell. If Natsu was going to say that she was weak and fragile, then she would definitely prove him wrong. Narrowing her brown eyes while also wanting to vent out all the anger, Lucy inhaled air through her mouth before exhaling it all in the form of a spiraling green vortex of wind! It spun really quickly, growing with distance as it headed straight for a stack of bricks, and an emerald green blast of Wind Magic had transpired! This move seemed to be powerful, since it had been made from tons of Lucy's anger, and the bricks had been decimated into dust.

She was panting heavily after using that new move, and Lucy still felt like venting out her emotions on the dock's inanimate objects. She needed a name for this spell, and Lucy simply called it Decimating Wind because of how it obliterated those bricks. She used the spell to destroy a pile of lumber, creating another green blast of energy, and this move had also pushed Lucy backwards while it had used up so much power. The brown-eyed girl continued to pant, feeling her magical power deplete once again, but she did not expect to feel her legs shaking while she was losing her balance. Nothing had been going right for Lucy on this day, and she only wanted something good to happen to her.

While Lucy fell to her knees, she could only say in an upset manner as tears began to well up in her eyes, "Even anger doesn't make me feel good about losing Natsu, and he makes me feel like I'm not good enough. I lost him to Lisanna, and I doubt that any other guy would even see the value in me. If I rush into another relationship, it won't even work out. Natsu is probably telling the whole guild about how I dumped him, and everybody must really be wondering about how I found out. Even if I were to strengthen my magic, I'll always be a failure at love..."

The stress from dealing with Natsu, combined with the fact that most of her energy was depleted, had caused Lucy to feel a pain in her heart before she passed out. The blonde mage had lost consciousness once again, but she was not going to be alone. Unknown to Lucy, a certain blond dragon slayer and his female friend with light-blue hair had heard every word while they had been observing the blasts from behind a nearby bush. They were also accompanied by a black-haired male who had a green Exceed on his left shoulder, and the blond male had been waiting for his red Exceed to finish the job of delivering newspapers from the sky to a gang in Magnolia. Apparently, they were paying Sting's group 200,000 jewels to deliver the newspapers to them so that they could rob the most successful business of the week for some easy cash.

Upon seeing that Lucy had collapsed, Sting ran from behind the bush to be at her side while looking concerned for the well-being of the blonde girl. He had heard her words about dumping Natsu, and Sting had picked her up in his arms gently. It was true that him and Lucy did not know each other yet, but he was not going to send her back to the guild of Fairy Tail without getting a full explanation about what she had been saying. After all, there was obviously more to her story. Sting smiled a bit while knowing where he would take this hurt woman, and it would actually be where she had been wanting to go.

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><p><strong>How was the 3rd chapter? Did you like it? I apologize for the fact that it seems short, but the next update will be longer. Lucy will also get to meet the writer of the contents in the pink envelope, and she will be using the book with the compatible spirits in this story. I still haven't decided the main pairing for Lucy in a romance, though. Standby for the update!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>New Things Learned, Fate Shall Turn<strong>

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><p>Lucy slowly opened her cocoa brown eyes while smelling the sweet aroma of warm sugary coffee in the air, and she had regained consciousness to see that the group of Sabertooth mages were all looking down at her with concerned facial expressions. She had collapsed near the dock because of using so much magical power to vent out her anger, wanting to be far away from the guy who had now been rather uncaring about the fact that she had broken up with him. Lucy could not believe that Natsu was simply going to move on with Lisanna without really feeling like he had lost an important girl, and the blonde mage had ran to the harbor.<p>

She found herself to now be in a cafe, laying on a part of the booth that was near the table, and Lucy managed to sit up while feeling that her energy had been restored. She yawned softly, before her brown eyes truly caught the sight of Sting looking at her with a smile on his face. She did not know who he was at first, but then she began to remember his blond spiky hair and his dark blue pants. He had sat across from her while Yukino and Rogue had moved to another table for the white dragon slayer to explain everything to Lucy, since he was the team leader, and he had also slid a cup of hot chocolate to her side of the table.

Sting had heard every word about how Lucy had lost Natsu to Lisanna, and he wanted to know about what had happened. Judging by how she had a suitcase, he could guess that she had been on her way to a new town for a chance to start a new life. He had done some asking around in Magnolia to find out where Lucy had lived, and Yukino had taken the black suitcase back to Lucy's apartment. She had also unpacked everything while putting her clothes and food back in their respective places, but the rest of the things in Lucy's home had remained untouched for now.

The blue-eyed male smiled nicely at Lucy, not wanting to frighten her if she was nervous around new people, and he was only going to ask about the situation with Natsu when Lucy felt ready to tell him about it. He could tell that his flaming and hotheaded rival had obviously done something to cause Lucy's anger, but what was it? Sting continued to smile at Lucy, hoping for some kind of reaction from her, and he had actually made her feel a bit happy. Lucy smiled back slightly while gasping in shock, and she looked embarrassed while blushing a bit.

She had been able to put the pieces together pretty quickly, seeing that he must've been the leader of the team that had saved her life, and Lucy had to thank him. She had collapsed on the ground, and Lucy was pretty lucky that no one had tried to kidnap her or take away her keys while she had been unconscious. Fate had been kind enough to let some good people find her, and Lucy definitely had to show her manners to the team. She giggled a bit while Sting maintained his nice smile, and it was pretty nice to see that he was friendly.

Sting asked her in a calm manner while smirking a bit, "Are you really just going to stay quiet while you're talking with the person who picked you up after you collapsed near the harbor? That was pretty scary to see, Blondie, and you need to learn about controlling the flow of your energy. I heard and saw the emerald green blasts of your Wind Magic, and they honestly need work. You forced out a lot of magical power, and that's why you collapsed. Are you new to that Wind Magic, Blondie, or is it actually blowing you away?"

Lucy responded in a defensive manner while narrowing her cocoa brown eyes, having now seen Sting's personality, "I'm glad that you saved my life, but don't call me Blondie! You're blond, too! Besides, I was just remembering what had happened before I had passed out. I know that I'm new to the Wind Magic, and maybe I'm just not good at using it yet. I'm probably not good at anything that involves Caster Magic, especially since I was not even strong enough to satisfy a guy that I had been dating for almost thirteen months! He cheated on me, and I want revenge by joining Sabertooth!"

Upon hearing the last part of her response, Sting could not resist the urge to chuckle a bit. While he did admire her desire to have a motive, the white dragon slayer could tell that Lucy needed more experience before she could join a guild like Sabertooth. Even though Sting was now the master of the guild, he could not just let anybody into the guild. He would want to see what kinds of skills they actually had, since he wanted people that could help his guild win the Grand Magic Games next year. However, as his mind flashed back to Lucy's spells from earlier, Sting had a bright idea.

If Lucy was heading to the town of Rustboro, she might want to know that the mages there were not all about brute strength. They were not solely focused on showing off how powerful their moves could be, but they also did their best to make their moves look appealing as well. Showing off the beauty of certain spells would sound a bit weird to Lucy, but Sting knew that people who weren't good with power yet had always focused on polishing their moves to improve their strength. See, magic is alive in every mage. If the magic does not like how its spells are presented, then they will simply come out powerful while using up so much more energy than what's required.

However, if a mage is smart enough to make the moves look beautiful while also combining power and creativity into the perfect blend, then the spells will work in much better ways. Lucy's spells seemed rather simple right now, but they could be improved to look pretty great. Besides, it would not be good for Lucy to have enemies heckle her in a battle for how much power she would be using up with brute force alone. Sting smirked a bit while having confidence in his blue eyes, and the plan had been fully thought out in his head.

Deciding that he would make Lucy stronger by helping her improve those new spells, Sting pulled out the green spell book from the left pocket of his blue vest. He had kept it nice and safe for Lucy, making sure that no one would steal something that seemed so valuable, and he set the book on the table. Lucy smiled happily while taking the green book into her hands, delighted that it was still safe. Even if Sting sounded a bit cocky and mouthy, he had been kind enough to take great care of the book for the past few hours while it had been in his possession.

As Lucy opened the green book, she also knew that her spells needed to not be as weak as they were before. They had to be molded into solid spells that wouldn't explode so easily, and Lucy's moves also needed to be made with more creativity. In that moment, she had a great idea while smiling with joy. If Lucy could not join Sabertooth yet, couldn't she at least help Sting's team on jobs to at least feel useful? She would even follow their training regimen, if she had to, and it would truly be a nice change from dealing with a guy who was dense like Natsu.

"All right, Lucy. If you think that you're so weak, then I'll train you and help you become just as strong as anybody in the Sabertooth guild. The training will only be tough if you make it be difficult, but you seem like a very smart girl. I don't know if you know this, but there's a big event in Fiore where you can show off the beauty and power of your spells. It's called the Grand Fiore League, and it's similar to the Grand Magic Games. I don't know the league's rules, but I guess that you'll find out about them when it begins. Anyway, we should go start your training." Sting told her in a calm manner while smiling nicely, wanting to use this as an opportunity to get to know Lucy.

The blonde girl replied kindly while getting out of the booth, smiling happily at how Sting was going to teach her some new ways to become strong, "Thank you so much, Sting! I can guess that you don't want me to look weak next to the other people in the Sabertooth guild, and I'll train hard with you! My spells need to be improved, for starters, and I know that you'll help me get them up to a decent level. I'm not going to let you down, especially since Yukino is a good friend of mine. I want us to be good friends, too."

Since Sting was now going to help Lucy become stronger, he left some jewels on the table to pay for his cup of sugary coffee and Lucy's cup of hot chocolate before they both walked out of the cafe. He was going to take the blonde girl to an ideal place for training, somewhere that she could truly hone her Wind Magic, and Lucy kept smiling happily while she followed him on a route that would lead the duo out of Magnolia. As Lucy's melon green book pulsated faintly with energy, she knew that her luck was finally starting to turn around. While things were starting to go well for Lucy, what had become of Natsu in the past few hours?

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, at Fairy Tail...<strong>

Natsu Dragneel had been waiting for three hours now, wanting to see his ex come through that door to cause a big scene, and he was going to simply make Lucy think that she was crazy to say that he had been cheating on her. The fire dragon slayer's eyes shifted left and right while he sat at a table with Lisanna, and he had to wonder who could have been the rat that let his secret leak out to her. Natsu had wanted to tell Lucy in his own words, after he would've told Levy to write him the best apology ever known to man, but it looks like somebody else had told her the news.

His eyes glanced over at one table where Gray was trying to avoid being kissed by Juvia, and Natsu had to wonder if they could have exposed his cheating ways. Gray had been saying that Natsu was an idiot for doing something so devious to an emotionally fragile girl like Lucy, and the ice mage had actually been scolding him about it while knowing that the secret's days of being hidden were actually numbered. Natsu made a flame engulf his right hand to melt Gray for what he had supposedly done, but what if he hadn't exposed the secret to Lucy? It would be wrong to hurt an innocent person, and there was also no proof that Gray was involved in Lucy's earlier outburst.

Natsu changed his focus to Erza, since she had been close friends with Lucy. The two girls had talked a lot, sharing many things that ranged from fashion tips to dating advice, and that led Natsu to possibly think that Erza had double-crossed him to help Lucy know that she was just Natsu's girlfriend on the side now while Lisanna was his main lover. Even if he tried to interrogate the scarlet-haired woman about what she had been doing today and yesterday, the best answer that Natsu could possibly get would be a strong kick to the face while Erza would be giving him a serious death glare as well.

While Natsu looked ready to start pointing fingers at anyone who could be a suspect, he still could not get over the fact that Lucy disappeared in a cloud of smoke. He had never seen any of her Celestial Spirits use smoke bombs, nor did Lucy ever have any on her for a way of defending herself. It felt like some wind had also pushed him back for a moment, but Natsu knew perfectly well that Lucy was not able to use any kind of Wind Magic. It was almost impossible for her to do that, so where did it even come from?

Lisanna looked up from a newspaper that she had been reading while she sat at the table with Natsu, and the white-haired mage looked a bit concerned about her boyfriend. She knew that no one in the guild would be that rude to leak the secret to Lucy, and everyone had promised the happy couple that they would not say a word about their affair to the brown-eyed girl. He had trusted them all to keep his affair under the radar, but there was something that Natsu greatly missed in his suspicions. When he had come back from the beach with his lovely Lisanna, he had kissed her on the lips while leaving Fairy Tail's doors open for Lucy to see it all.

She told him in a kind tone, taking his hands in hers while smiling softly to lighten the mood, "Don't let yourself get all worked up about this, Natsu. It was just our mistake to leave the guild's doors wide open, and Lucy must've seen us kissing. I doubt that she would know that the whole guild has been keeping it secret from her for six months now, and she'll probably look bad for accusing you about what had happened. Almost all of the guild members promised to be loyal to us in this matter, and Lucy will simply have to accept our relationship."

Natsu replied happily while looking into Lisanna's beautiful blue eyes, delighted that their love would possibly continue with nothing getting in the way of it, "You're right, Lisanna! Even though we felt bad about leaving Lucy in the dark, she'll just have to get over it and see us as a happy couple that deserves love. We are the perfect pair of lovers, and you even take me to my favorite places when we go out to eat. I always buy you the best gifts, and you always love them. We also work well together on jobs, and you look so sexy when you fight in that tigress outfit."

Lisanna blushed a light shade of pink from hearing that last part, and she really did have to wonder if it was really sexy. The younger Strauss sister had always loved working with Natsu, and their love was something that was wonderful to them. Natsu and Lisanna had even gotten really hot on cold winter nights, having the warmth and embrace of each other to feel comfortable as they would cuddle in bed together, and the duo had found a great amount of comfort from sleeping together. Their sexy sessions had even reached Happy's ears while he would be sleeping, but the blue Exceed always knew that kinky things went on in Natsu's room.

As Lisanna gave Natsu a kiss on the lips to make him be somewhat relieved of his paranoid thoughts, she really had to wonder why Lucy had not showed up today. When Lisanna had looked inside a window of Lucy's apartment, her suitcase had been fully unpacked while all of her clothes were now back in her closet. It had seemed like Lucy had changed her plans about heading to the harbor, as Natsu had assumed when he spoke of his meeting with Lucy earlier in the day, but neither one of them knew that the blonde mage was certainly not going to return to Fairy Tail.

They were waiting patiently for Lucy to come running through the doors with angry look on her face, guessing that she would be really angry with the guild for keeping Natsu's big secret from her, but she had not come yet. Lisanna was thinking that Lucy would be too sad to show up to the guild, and Natsu was hoping to simply watch his ex make a fool of herself by causing drama for everyone to see. It would be funny to Natsu, really, since he thought that Lucy would want to get back with him after apologizing for slapping him in public.

Lucy would not be so stupid to go back into the guild for a chance at being humiliated, and Natsu would be deprived of that type of fun for quite a while. Him and Lisanna had been waiting for Lucy to show up, but let's just say that the guild of Fairy Tail would be missing its blonde Celestial Spirit Wizard for a while. Natsu had been the one who made Lucy almost think of killing herself, and he was very lucky that she had chosen the non-suicidal path of revenge. Lucy was going to get stronger, faster, better, tougher, and she would eventually put the fire dragon slayer in his place.

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><p><strong>In a grassy field...<strong>

Sting had taken Lucy to a grassy countryside that was far from the town of Magnolia, and he took notice of the white turbine windmills being here. In a place like this with a breeze occurring at many times, this place was perfect for Lucy to test out her Wind Magic. She was going to improve each of her spells into moves that could be much more useful, and Lucy smiled happily while she walked far away from Sting. She did not want to hurt her new friend with the spells that she would be dishing out, and Lucy also wanted to be impressive enough to measure up to everyone in the Sabertooth guild.

She had gotten advice from Sting while they had walked all the way to the grassy countryside, and he told her that she needed to make her moves look great to help her Wind Magic bring out more of its power. That would help her in the Grand Fiore League, as well as the Grand Magic Games, and it would also help Lucy's moves become much stronger. Lucy also had to focus on not forcing the spell to show its power, so she had to relax her body and her mind while thinking of how she could improve each spell to make it useful without depleting so much magical power.

Thinking of her motive to become stronger, Lucy closed her eyes while she took a deep breath. She had to concentrate on how the spell would look, wanting its power to be in sync with the beauty and the effects, so she started off with her first spell of Wind Magic. This was the Bullet Tornado spell, but Lucy had renamed it to be Viridian Tornado while recreating it to be something that had a much better look. The effect would change as well, and Lucy put her hands together while getting every little detail right. Her energy was balanced in body and spirit, so she opened her eyes quickly before shouting out the spell with determination in her voice.

In an instant, five miniature green tornadoes of wind floated around in a circle while they surrounded the body of the blonde mage. These tornadoes grew larger with the high amount of wind in the area, and Lucy made them all head in five different directions to strike five white turbine windmills that surrounded her. Lucy smiled happily at the sight of her tornadoes causing large green blasts of energy to occur when they struck the windmills, and they did massive damage while making air come from five different directions to refill the stamina of their owner.

Her second spell had been known as Vanishing Breeze, but Lucy had changed it to a move that was known as Aerial Slice. This made the brown-eyed girl exhale a deep breath of air, before making a green aura engulf her right hand. Lucy slashed at the air with that hand, creating an invisible wave of air, and this wave grew with distance. It was powerful enough to slice through a windmill with ease, and the air wave had suddenly made a large blast of green energy occur when Lucy had closed her right hand. The aftermath had made five waves of air spread out, before converging together over the crater where the windmill once stood like they were hitting an enemy with tremendous force.

Lucy's third move had been known as Decimating Wind, and she looked up at the sky to use this attack. Narrowing her brown eyes, she unleashed a spiraling vortex of green winds into the air and molded the Wind Magic to the the point where it could absorb air to make the vortex grow much larger. It could obviously be used to strike foes that were airborne, and Lucy could also use this spell on the ground to destroy objects that were straight ahead in her line of sight or propel herself into the air to prepare for a pretty wicked attack. Quite an advancement in spells, wouldn't you agree?

As she panted a bit, Lucy smiled a bit while realizing that three spells would not be enough right now. She decided to create the fourth spell of Wind Magic, and this spell was known as Cloudy Day. This spell caused six clouds in the sky to fuse together to form one large cloud, and that cloud began to turn melon green before it released a large gust of wind that sucked up its targets! Two turbine windmills went into the cloud, before it imploded to make a spherical emerald green blast of energy transpire in the sky. The side effect of this spell had made an extremely large gust of wind blow through the area, but Lucy was able to inhale most of the wind before it could reach Sting to possibly send him flying.

Her fifth spell was named Feather Duster, and it was certainly not going to create a household object that she would use to get rid of the dust in the Sabertooth guild. This spell made the winds form giant green feathers that took the shape of a large square around Lucy, and this was a defensive spell that could be used to protect her from almost any attack. If a feather were to be hit by three projectiles, as an example, the feather of air would create three large green tornadoes that would head straight for the thrower of the projectiles to tear that person to shreds with their immense power.

Lucy's sixth move was known as Aerial Palm, and this spell allowed her to slam her left palm up into the air like she was hitting something. It actually caused a large mass of air to go upward, before coming down to the ground quickly to create six massive blasts of Wind Magic around Lucy. She covered her eyes while coughing a bit from all of the dust, but the smoke cleared up quickly to reveal six large craters in the ground. Lucy could only look amazed by what had been happening so far, and she was surprised to see that the spells were actually ascending in power so far.

With six spells out of the way, Lucy had kept her energy focused while she created the seventh spell of Wind Magic. It was called Wind Cannon, and this spell simply made Lucy unleash a large green beam of energy from her mouth. It spun at intense revolution speeds, going extremely fast while the beam headed straight for something to hit, and it had struck a distant rock while creating a loud explosion of green smoke. The attack had completely destroyed the rock, and Sting looked a bit shocked while sensing that its power level was nearly off the charts.

Only one spell was left now, and Lucy had inhaled tons of air for this move. It was going to be her last resort move, in case she ever encountered any powerful enemies that could withstand the combined power of the other seven spells, and this move was known as Sky Tower. It did not call for Lucy to do anything, but it caused the winds to take the form of a large emerald green serpentine-like creature. This creature was high in the air above Sting and Lucy, making both mages look a bit scared, and Lucy's new creature had fired an extremely large towering vortex of green winds down onto the ground from the heavens!

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><p>Before this move could hit the ground, Sting had quickly ran towards Lucy to get her out of the way. She had obviously put lots of magical power into that spell, thus explaining why she hadn't moved right away, and her attack had created a tremendous emerald green blast of energy that obliterated all of the windmills and grass in the area. The strong winds from the attack had sent Sting and Lucy all the way back to Magnolia, and they both had a painful landing while rolling down a street together. Sting planted one hand firmly on the ground to stop their rolling, and they landed right in front of a bakery that sold delicious pies.<p>

Sting could tell that Lucy had given it her best efforts today, based on how she had made the book's Wind Magic work well together with its properties of Molding Magic. He could sense that her power had been nearly drained from using that final attack, and Sting smiled proudly at her for keeping calm while listening to the instructions of her new friend. He may have only been watching her test out the spells, but Sting was seeing exactly how they worked. He was glad to know that Lucy made some good selections, wise spells that would definitely help her out, and he just had to congratulate her.

"Nice going, Lucy! That last move of yours was totally unexpected, but your spells looked pretty good while they also seemed like they could do some massive damage. It would be a little too fast for you to move into Sabertooth on the first day, but don't worry! I'll come to train with you every day, and we're going to get you into tip-top shape! I swear, Natsu won't even know what he threw out! You're just so awesome!" The white dragon slayer told her with a happy look on his face, as he got off of her while helping her stand up.

Much to Sting's shock, Lucy actually looked him with tears welling up in her cocoa brown eyes while sobs began to wrack her body. She hugged her new friend tightly while crying, and he looked a bit concerned while hoping that compliments from the supposedly strongest dragon slayer in Fiore were not seen as insults to Lucy in any way. She had continued to cry while sniffling, and the blonde mage could only continue to let out her emotions as tears were streaming down her face. Sting had not done anything to upset her, but it was actually what he had done that was causing Lucy to cry.

She had never heard such kind words from Natsu before, not even a single ounce of praise whenever they had done jobs together, and he had never been willing to go out of his way to help her improve in anything. Sting had actually congratulated her, taught her a way to make her use those spells better, and Lucy had even created new spells that were powerful. Sting had really made Lucy feel happy, making her feel encouraged by wanting to see her do well, and she also felt like he would not be a secretive friend who would hide things from her.

"Thank you, Sting. I'm just so happy that fate made me meet a friend who wouldn't be fake, and I was only awesome today because I followed your strategy. You're a better friend than Natsu, since you probably don't cheat or make everyone in your guild keep secrets about your little anniversary, and don't even get me started on what I'd do if Natsu decided to eat their celebratory cake in the same room as me." Lucy replied nicely while wiping the tears away, as she released her friend from the hug with a kind smile.

Sting made a puking sound as his guess about what Lucy would probably do, and he even said how the vomit would give a cheater the literal taste of their own medicine. That little statement made Lucy giggle a bit, and Sting was glad to see that smile of joy on her face. He was good at sensing how people felt sometimes, and Sting wanted Lucy to feel like she was not alone to be a nervous wreck over the fact that Natsu and Lisanna had started a relationship. As Lucy looked down at her pink pajamas, blushing pink while noticing that she still wore her pajamas in the afternoon, she still smiled while waving goodbye to Sting and running home.

As Sting ran back to the coffee shop to meet up with his teammates, he thought to himself while smirking in a confident manner as some satisfaction entered his blue eyes, _"Lucy might've seemed a bit defensive at first, but she's actually pretty cool when she's calm like how she was today. Training with her will be fun, and I'll have to admit that she can create some good stuff."_

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><p><strong>How was the 4th chapter? Did you like it? Sorry for the late update, but my stupid ex actually tried rubbing her new relationship in my face yesterday. I seriously want to knock her out, and I was so totally mad. Aside from that, I changed up the plot a bit from my original intention to not reveal too much. By the way, eight spells does not make Lucy overpowered. Just like in my last story, you'll see people who can survive barrages of spells and strike back hard. Anyway, standby for the update!<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Many Unexpected Things<strong>

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><p>The next day, Lucy had gone to the guild of Fairy Tail with a soft smile on her face. She had slept well last night, after receiving some helpful advice from Sting to assist her with training in the grassy countryside, and Lucy had gotten up a bit earlier than usual. The blonde mage felt a bit happy, despite having parted ways with her cheating ex-boyfriend Natsu yesterday, and she was glad to have known that there was a new friend around to help her pick up the pieces of her broken heart. Even though Lucy was smiling right now, it was really nothing to get excited over.<p>

She knew that rushing into a relationship would not be a very good move to make, especially since she had been dumped and cheated on recently by such a dense jerk, and Lucy just wanted to stay single for a while. Even if the guild would still be acting like she was so hurt by Natsu, Lucy did not really find the need to really tell them what was going on, since they were all on his side because they had all kept his affair to themselves without even saying a word about it to her. She would just focus on herself for a while, and being single had its perks.

Lucy wore an orange top with a yellow skirt today, and she also wore some red flat shoes to make her outfit look completely great. She had always liked fashion, and looking great was one of the things that Lucy was skilled at. She had planned to leave the guild at the end of this month, due to the party that would be going on to celebrate the seven-month anniversary of Natsu's lovely relationship with Lisanna, and Lucy did not even want to see those two make. She no longer wanted to be around the fire dragon slayer, wanting nothing to do with him anymore, and Lucy had simply waited for fate to tell her when she could join Sabertooth.

After it sounded like everyone was inside, Lucy had used her Wind Magic to open the guild's closed entrance doors through the slight crevice that had been in between them. She had also closed the doors behind her while being in the main part of the guild, only hating how the doors had creaked while she shut them, and the brown-eyed girl smiled a bit as she had memorized every inch of the guildhall to know where everything was located. If almost everyone in Fairy Tail was going to be so sneaky to Lucy, then what was stopping her from doing it to them?

She softly giggled while going over to the request board, feeling happy with delight to see the job requests that were on the brown flyers, and she was trying to find a job that she could do today to get some money that she would need tomorrow. Lucy was not going to use that money to pay her rent, since she was still intent on moving out of her apartment, but she was going to use it to help herself buy some delicious treats that she could give as gifts to Sting, Yukino, Rogue, Lector, and Frosch. She had not met Lector yet, but Sting had spoke of having a red Exceed with that name while he had taken her to the grassy countryside.

Lucy had scanned the jobs on the request board with her cocoa brown eyes, wanting to find a good job that she would enjoy doing while having Sting by her side, and the blonde mage cheered softly while she found a good job to do in the bottom-left corner of the request board. This job would take place on the other side of Fiore, the side where Sting had lived, and Lucy was ecstatic at the thought of seeing him once again. He had promised to train with her from now on, wanting to help her become stronger, and Lucy kept smiling happily as she unpinned the flyer from the request board.

The blonde mage had told herself in a calm manner while she looked at the job that she was taking today, finding it to be a really good reason to finally get to see the Sabertooth guild, "This job is totally perfect for me to do, and I'll probably get to see Sting on the way to the town of Rustboro! I don't know if he's the type of person who would enjoy going to something like this, though, but I will still be sure to stop by and see him! After all, he totally helped me out yesterday. It's the least that I could do for him, after I had nearly destroyed an entire area outside of Magnolia."

A familiar female voice replied in a kind tone, wanting to know what Lucy had been talking about, "Hi, Lucy! Are you still thinking about Natsu? Have you two been getting lovey-dovey? Is he the one who helps you be happy?"

That voice belonged to Mirajane Strauss, the older sister of Lisanna and Elfman, but Lucy narrowed her cocoa brown eyes while not seeing too happy to know that Mirajane was in her business. The white-haired woman smiled kindly while she was about to stamp the job that Lucy would be going on, but the blonde mage had simply folded it up while paying no mind to the questions of Mira. Lucy put the flyer into the left pocket of her yellow skirt, and she walked out of the guild while ignoring the people who were quietly talking about Natsu's upcoming seven-month anniversary with Lisanna.

Judging by how Sting had made Lucy smile softly yesterday, she could tell that her days were going to get better. The white dragon slayer's positive attitude had made Lucy love herself a little bit more, and she began to believe that she was not weak. Not only did she have eight spells of Wind Magic at her disposal, but Lucy also had ten of the thirteen golden keys in her possession. She had gotten somewhat stronger, especially since the winds of good fortune had been shifting her way now, and Lucy ran down to the harbor to catch the next boat to the town of Cerulean.

While she had been running down to the harbor, Lucy smiled a bit while she had to wonder what kinds of treats Sting would like. She had just met him yesterday, so she did not exactly know a whole lot about him. Friends had to get to know each other for the purpose of creating good chemistry, right? That's how being social had worked, after all, and Lucy was going to ask Sting about his favorite things. She wouldn't be going too deep, however, if the white dragon slayer had any personal things about himself that he was wanting to hide for now.

As Lucy could see the beautiful blue ocean coming into view, she kept on telling herself to not try and rush into any relationships. She did not want to fall hard for someone who was not single, or did not return her feelings of wanting comfort, and Lucy also did not want to seem like a sad puppy that needed a constant supply of attention. She did not want to be clingy, like how she had once written about Natsu on every page of her pink diary before he had burned it by accident, and Lucy just wanted to not move so fast. She wanted to take things slow, not go all-out on a guy while trying to flirt with him, and Lucy knew that she really needed a strategy that wouldn't be so bad.

The blonde mage had noticed that there were no boats available at the harbor again, however, and a train would also not be able to cross the sea. Despite that minor setback, Lucy simply turned around to have her back towards the sea while she focused on her Wind Magic. Narrowing her brown eyes, Lucy built up her confidence while inhaling some air and she took in a lot of it. After a few seconds, she exhaled all of the air to push herself backwards by a great distance as she kept letting out the air. Lucy was now sent flying towards the town of Rustboro at high speeds, and she landed on the ground with a hard slam.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, in the center of the town...<strong>

Sting and the other members of his team from the Sabertooth guild had been battling a wanted criminal who had stolen a red orb from the Oceanic Museum in Slateport Town, and the group had chased her all the way to the town of Rustboro. Shelly Izumi had a very high bounty on her head for stealing various artifacts from around Fiore, even stealing from dark guilds to get what she wanted, and she was pretty dangerous as well. Her magic had never been matched by the police, nor could the mighty Natsu Dragneel even stop her when they once had an encounter, but could Sting and his crew get the job done?

Shelly had tan skin while she was a very voluptuous woman as well, and she wore a blue midriff top that left her stomach exposed as she also wore blue jeans to look pretty fashionable. Her hair was long and black, reaching down to her hips, and this criminal's eyes were beautiful and blue like the sea. She also wore some cherry red lipstick, and the blue-eyed villain giggled a bit while she looked at the trio of Sting, Rogue, and Yukino. She was obviously underestimating them, seeing them as weak because of the guild's total loss against Fairy Tail in the Grand Magic Games last year, and Shelly did not think that weaklings like them could possibly take her down.

In an effort to wipe that smirk off of her face, Sting charged towards her while Rogue also ran towards her as he readied his Shadow Dragon's Slash to help his friend with their combo strike. Sting made a white sphere of light engulf his left hand, attempting to hit Shelly head on with a series of punches, but she simply grabbed his hands to throw him down to the ground. Shelly also looked alert while turning around quickly to dodge Rogue's attack, and she delivered a harsh kick to his stomach while sending him rolling away from her.

Since the direct approach did not seem to work, Sting formed a sphere with his hands to use White Dragon's Holy Ray. He looked confident while seeing the many beams of white light head towards Shelly in a curved trajectory, and Rogue had unleashed his Shadow Dragon's Roar to hit the antagonist from behind with his black vortex of shadows. The guys thought that they could take her down with this combo, but Shelly had put her hands together to make a large sphere of dense blue water surround her body. Sting's holy rays and Rogue's vortex had been negated by the large bubble of water, prompting them both to groan in frustration.

Deciding to now retaliate, Shelly made her watery sphere grow much larger while she stepped out of it. There was cold white air coming off of her body, almost like she had taken a cold shower, and that made Yukino gulp in fear while she could tell what was coming next. This battle was about to reach a very chilling point, and that would certainly not be good for the trio of heroes. Shelly had made her sphere of blue water float towards Sting at high speeds, and the white dragon slayer had tried to counter it with his White Dragon's Roar. He shot out a white laser beam from his mouth, hitting the bubble directly, and it had burst like a balloon.

Instead of being shocked at this sight, however, Shelly could only smirk deviously as the water from her large bubble had made Sting get caught in a trap! The water had turned into blue goop that acted like glue, solidifying quickly as it was all over his legs, and now Sting was unable to move. He had tried punching the hard substance that had immobilized his legs, but it was not breaking at all. The frustrated look on his face was enough of a warning for Rogue and Yukino to not even try attacking the bubbles or Shelly, so they kept their distance from her.

Sting had asked her in a stern tone while he still tried to move, his blue eyes showing frustration as his legs could not move at all while the cold water had also numbed them, "What do you want with the Red Orb, Shelly, and why do you keep on toying with us like this? I get that you think that people from the guild of Sabertooth are so weak because of how we lost to Fairy Tail last year, but aren't you supposed to be a tough criminal? If you're such a good thief with strong skills, then why not just end this and stop wasting our time? Don't you have anything better to do, lady?"

Shelly replied in a flirty manner, walking towards Sting with a confident smirk on her face, "You're right, you cute dragon slayer. It would eventually get boring to keep toying with you, but I just won't be happy if you died so soon. You're a very handsome man, Sting Eucliffe, and you're also famous for surrendering to an entire team on the final day of the Grand Magic Games because you wanted your precious cat back. You thought that winning would not help you get him back, and you disgraced yourself in front of everyone in Fiore. I know that my words hurt, sweetie, but let me give you a little bit of compensation. You're cute, and I'll be by your side as you die."

She had fired two balls of water from her hands, making sure that they had hit Sting's arms, and the cold water had felt like glacial ice numbing his arms. The blond male could not move his body at all, having no way to escape from Shelly, and she had even turned to Sting's teammates for them to know that they would be sharing his fate if they tried to do anything in this situation. Shelly was going to end this battle in a pretty flirty, yet dangerous way. Sting had been wishing that he said that Lucy could join Sabertooth yesterday, and he wished that she was here right now.

Shelly had gotten close enough to Sting, being at the point of where she put her cold hands on his face, and the black-haired thief closed her eyes while she was slowly leaning in for a kiss. This was no ordinary kiss, however, and Shelly had focused her Water Magic into her lips to freeze Sting solid from the inside. If he was frozen from within, his heart would freeze and he would die. Sting closed his eyes while he heard Shelly sighing happily, her lips being mere millimeters away from his, but then the white dragon slayer opened his eyes when he heard the familiar sound of a certain blonde girl screaming as the wind began to blow.

Suddenly, Lucy had come flying right into Shelly's stomach, striking her hard in the abdomen, and that pushed the antagonist away from Sting while she coughed up some blood. Shelly was sent rolling across the concrete, and Lucy had rolled with her. The two females had stopped rolling after a few seconds, and Lucy had been under Shelly while the tanned woman was on top of her. Sting had wanted to know how Lucy had managed to get to Rustboro, let alone find a fight scene at the right time, and he had noticed that Lucy had two small green tornadoes spiraling under the soles of her red shoes. They acted like rocket boosts, but it seemed that Lucy couldn't control them yet.

They weren't exactly a new spell, more like an ability that could be used outside of battles to help Lucy travel great distances in short amounts of time, and Sting really hoped that the brown-eyed girl would not be using that move very often. Lucy had been looking for Sting, and she had used the Silver Key of her Celestial Spirit named Pyxis to find him. She had hid behind a building while also observing his and Rogue's battle with Shelly, prompting Lucy to make mental notes about each of Shelly's moves. If she was a mage that was able to use Water Magic, then why not have an aquatic battle while fighting water with water?

Lucy had quickly kicked Shelly off of her, backing away quickly to get some distance between herself and the antagonist, so the next best move was to summon Aquarius. She pulled out the mermaid's key from her brown pouch, opening the Gate of the Water Bearer, and Aquarius looked pretty angry while she had appeared from a puddle of water that had been left over from one of Shelly's attacks. The Celestial Spirit did not like being pulled from the spirit world, especially when she was on a date with Scorpio, and she glared at Shelly for making Lucy summon her at a really bad time.

"For making that foolish girl summon me when I was about to kiss my boyfriend, you'll get annihilated by me! I am Aquarius, and the water is my garden! You're going down quickly, and then I'll get back at Lucy!" Aquarius shouted in a fierce tone while looking pretty pissed off, causing the Sabertooth trio to look really puzzled as Lucy seemed pretty shocked at having to soon deal with the wrath of her rebellious Celestial Spirit. With a flirty and sadistic woman going up against a mermaid that was fierce and beautiful, how would this turn out?

Intent on getting rid of anyone who was going to try and get in her way, Shelly made a blue ball of water form in between her hands. When it had grown to the size of them, Shelly threw it at the floor to watch the blue sphere glide across a stream of water that came with this spell. It was known as Rapid Current, and this spell had moved very fast to reach Lucy. Shelly's projectile was not a straightforward attack, however, and it curved around in attempt to hit Lucy from behind while the amount of water in the stream under the blue sphere had grown larger.

Before the attack could hit Lucy, Aquarius had absorbed Shelly's large amount of water into her blue urn. The sphere, however, had managed to hit Lucy from behind while all of that speed and rotation had given it some serious power. An explosion had transpired when Lucy was hit, and she screamed in pain from feeling the power of Shelly's attack. She was sent flying towards the antagonist, who proceeded to try and hit her with a large vortex of water from her left hand, but Aquarius had countered Shelly's spell with the powerful vortex of water that quickly emerged from her urn. The two attacks canceled each other out at first, but something began to happen.

Lucy looked shocked at the sight of Shelly's vortex of water absorbing the water that Aquarius had been using, getting stronger while the vortex of the blue-haired mermaid had gradually begun to decrease, and Shelly smirked evilly while her water vortex grew larger in size to push past the other one with ease. However, instead of hitting Aquarius with this powerful attack, the black-haired woman redirected it to curve around and hit Lucy while she was still trying to get on her feet after taking an explosive attack that made her back feel icy and numb.

The blonde girl looked pretty scared while the vortex came towards her at high speeds, and Lucy knew that none of her spells of Wind Magic could possibly do battle with a woman who could just negate or freeze her attacks. She regretted the fact that Sting would not be saved from being immobilized, and Lucy put the green book in front of her face to shield herself. It seemed quite ridiculous for Lucy to defend herself with something that would probably just get torn to pieces from such a powerful attack, but let's just say that this was no ordinary spell book.

When the vortex had touched the green spell book, Lucy looked surprised to see that the book was not taking any damage from the attack. It began to suddenly glow with cerulean blue beams of light emanating from within, the front and back covers of the book becoming blue, and Shelly looked utterly surprised to see that the book was now absorbing her large attack. This was clearly no ordinary spell book, and the blue color had now symbolized that Water Magic was now available for Lucy to use. Her body was surrounded by a blue aura, feeling warm like hot water, and Lucy managed to stand up.

"It looks like I absorbed that woman's Water Magic, and the Molding Magic in the book might just help me beat her. If she can change the effects of her spells, then that's just what I have to do! It's the only way to beat her, and I think that we've just found her weakness! She's going to pay for hurting Sting, and I'm about to make her see that the guild of Sabertooth should not be underestimated! Second place was only for last year, and my new guild will rise to the top!" Lucy told Aquarius in a determined tone, her brown eyes becoming filled with confidence while she had a new type of magic at her disposal.

Shelly replied in a calm manner while her beautiful blue eyes were filled with arrogance, maintaining her smirk while she had now recognized who she was dealing with, "Hello there, Lucy Heartfilia. You were in Fairy Tail last year, but now it appears that you have left that guild of rowdy fools to join the weak guild that is managed by Sting Eucliffe. Defeating you will be quite easy, especially it seems like you don't even know how to fully use that book yet. Are you on your first or second type of magic, little rookie? Don't act so tough to impress Sting, since you and the others shall soon freeze along with him."

She laughed at her words while creating a large bubble of water to send Lucy's way, knowing that it would immobilize her if she tried to attack it, but Shelly had no idea about what Lucy would do next. The blonde girl quickly looked in the second section of the book to discover that the Water Magic was written in a different olden language, not even looking close to the characters of the Wind Magic, and Lucy noticed that her first readable spell was in a cerulean blue color while the unreadable spells were in black text. Narrowing her brown eyes after calming down and getting her energy at a balanced level, Lucy activated the first spell of Water Magic.

It was known as Aqua Ball, and this spell caused a blue sphere of energy to form in the palm of Lucy's left hand while she held the blue book in her right hand. The ball of energy grew to the size of her hand, before propelling itself off her hand and popping like a little water balloon when it hit Shelly's large bubble of water. Lucy thought that this spell deserved its moment of comic relief, so she used it four more times on Shelly's bubble. It had not grown any bigger, nor had there been any change in the properties of the bubble, and Shelly made it continue floating towards Lucy.

The blonde mage smiled happily while she was about to have Aquarius absorb the bubble into her blue urn, but Shelly's attack had suddenly imploded on itself while making five large blue blasts of energy transpire! The antagonist looked utterly surprised by what had just happened, never thinking that someone could make one of her attacks implode, and that prevented the freezing effect from occurring since it would only work if an outside force made the bubble burst. (Due to all of the messages I got about how cool they were, you'll see a few returning spells that were major fan favorites in my last story.)

Now that she was on the counterattack, Lucy remained focused while she created her second spell of Water Magic. It was known as Aqua Shuriken, and this spell allowed Lucy to jump high into the air while ten small bubbles of water were now on her fingers. They grew larger while taking in more water from the puddles that had been leftover from the blue blasts, and the bubbles reshaped themselves into blue shuriken. She threw the projectiles at Shelly, aiming for all ten of them to strike her from different frontal directions, but the black-haired woman simply made a bubble of dense water surround herself to not take any damage.

Even though the projectiles acted like they had now hit a crack in a wall when they hit the bubble, Lucy kept looking confident while she floated down to the ground. In a few seconds, the blue shuriken exploded in miniature blasts that had created ten clouds of blue smoke. Shelly coughed and closed her eyes while she was not able to see a thing, and she could only hear the sounds of Lucy using a few more of her shuriken to free Sting by having them explode to break the goop and ice that had been immobilizing him for a while.

Despite being free from the restraints that had numbed his body, Sting could only chatter his teeth while he stayed away from the battle to let Lucy handle the job. He had not expected her to be giving Shelly such a good fight, having been on even footing with the antagonist, and Sting looked pretty confident while he could see that Lucy's blue spell book was glowing once again. He had been wondering about how she would plan to end this fight, and the white dragon slayer thought that his new friend would create some fancy new move that was like a fireworks display.

Instead, Sting and Aquarius both looked utterly surprised to hear that Lucy had created a new spell named Sapphire Homing Shell. It sounded pretty weird, and the spell made a puddle of water solidify to take the form of a blue Koopa shell. It wasn't like the epic Spiny shell with spikes on it while having fancy wings as a nice touch, but this blue shell acted like a red homing shell. Lucy kicked it like a soccer ball with a good amount of force to get the shell spinning while it quickly moved towards Shelly, who had just ran out of the smoke.

The tanned woman gasped in shock while she saw the blue shell heading straight for her, quickly being at a close range to hit her with full power, and Shelly's blue eyes widened in amazement while her mind flashed back to everything that she done with Lucy during this fight. The blonde girl had made no pointless attacks, not even caring if Shelly had negated them, and Lucy had been gathering information about how her opponent's spells had worked. That last move with the shuriken was just to make the antagonist be unable to see what Lucy was up to, and Shelly smiled a bit while having to admit that was a very clever series of moves.

With nothing to help her defend against an unpredictable attack like this, Shelly could only watch as the blue shell hit her right foot gently before it caused a massive sapphire blue blast of energy to occur. The noise had gotten the attention of many people in Rustboro, some of them thinking that Sting was having a wild party again, and Lucy had closed the gate of Aquarius to send her back to the Celestial Spirit World. She did not want her magical power to completely run out, if Shelly would still be standing after taking such a powerful move like that. After all of that fighting, what would the result be?

As the blue smoke began to fade away, Rogue and Yukino looked pleased to see that Lucy stood over the defeated antagonist. Shelly had supposedly been knocked out by that last attack, not able to even move, and all that she could do was lie on the ground motionlessly while Sting had walked over to Lucy. Rogue and Yukino had walked over to her as well, smiling happily at her for defeating someone who was on Fiore's top ten list for wanted criminals, and the Sabertooth mages were very thankful that Lucy had showed up.

"Lucy, that last move of yours was totally wicked! I'll admit that it was a bit weird, but you just saved Fiore's best dragon slayer! I don't know how to repay you, but I'll eventually make it up to you. You're a good friend, and you saved our lives!" Sting told her in a congratulatory manner, looking pretty excited by how she had just saved him from receiving a kiss that would've led to his chilly death, and he had a happy look in his blue eyes while also hugging her to receive some warmth that would take away Shelly's coldness.

The brown-eyed girl blushed pink while she felt Sting hugging her, noticing how the blue spell book made a blue aura surround their bodies to warm them up, and his hug had felt so nice and warming. It wasn't burning hot like Natsu's flames, but the hug from Sting felt like lovely warmth from sunlight. He had wanted to truly thank her, and Sting smiled happily as his nose could smell Lucy's vanilla perfume. Sting did not know if Lucy liked guys who would just flirt with her, but he did not want to move that fast with her. He did think that she looked pretty cute, though.

Lucy responded to Sting in a kind tone, smiling happily while she had an idea about something, "Thank you, Sting! You're a really great teacher, and I had to save you. You put me on the path of training to become stronger, and I'll never be a burden to you. I will always help the team, and I want to join Sabertooth. Even if you think that I'm still not ready, at least give me a chance. If you, Rogue, and Yukino ever come across anyone like that woman or Minerva, then let me help you fight them. I want to work with you, Sting. Let me be in your group."

He could only respond by pointing straight ahead, showing Lucy that the Sabertooth guild stood behind a beautifully flowing fountain of water that spouted the Sabertooth guild's insignia at the top of the fountain in random instances. Sabertooth's headquarters itself appeared to be a very large saffron-colored complex consisting of several structures joined together. Some of them were even sitting on top of the others, generating an imposing, elongated structure vaguely reminiscent of an odd pyramid adorned by a multitude of facades, windows and pillars, as well as by some pointed towers protruding upwards from its upper part. Topping the whole structure was a massive gold statue portraying the animal which is the guild's namesake, a saber-toothed cat with its jaws open.

Sting smiled kindly while walking to the guild with Lucy, as Rogue and Yukino followed behind, and he knew that she would enjoy being a part of his guild. They would work together, get stronger together, and Sting also wanted to get to know her. He had not been wanting a relationship with her, but they just had to start things off by looking at each other's interests. If they had anything in common other than their dislike of Natsu, then Sting could possibly end up having pretty good chemistry with a nice girl like Lucy.

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><p>The waves from the last blast had made the fountain's water spill out all over Shelly while she had been faking her state of being unconscious, but the antagonist was badly wounded. However, she knew that her organization had a secret base for healing near the town of Rustboro. It was actually meant to be accessed by going into the fountain that was actually hiding a secret switch that would let Shelly swim deeper into the fountain, and she pressed a white button on the fountain to make the bottom part within the fountain open up a secret passage. All of the pennies, dimes, nickels, and quarters fell into the secret passage, but the organization known as Aqua Kyogre didn't care.<p>

Shelly took off her wet top and her wet pants, leaving her in nothing but a lacy white bra and lacy white panties, and she went headfirst into the fountain while getting the rest of her body down into it. Shelly looked very attractive, and she smirked evilly while the secret passage closed up above her to not let anyone follow her. As she began to swim down to what seemed like an underground hideout, the black-haired woman could only smirk in a devious manner as she had seen something in Lucy's eyes that she took a liking to.

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><p><strong>How was the 5th chapter? Did you like it? Due to the Hoenn remakes coming out soon, I decided to include some of that into this story. You've also seen some new spells as well, and Lucy will get more in this story. I've chosen StiCy as the main pairing, and there will be more NaLi moments in this story as well! Standby for the update!<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>A Good Friend, and A Smart Rival<strong>

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><p>When the white dragon slayer had opened the entrance doors for his blonde companion, Sting could only smile in a happy manner as he heard Lucy gasp in awe at what she was seeing. The brown-eyed girl was clearly impressed by how the inside of the Sabertooth guild had looked, blushing a light shade of pink when she had even seen some girls who wore fashionable clothes that had not even reached the stores of Magnolia yet, and Lucy had also taken notice of how there were many paintings of Sting on the walls. He took a lot of pride in how he looked, and the painters even had to get his cocky smile right.<p>

The inside of the Sabertooth guild had looked like a fancy hotel lobby with its golden walls and red carpet that spread out far enough to cover the entire wooden surface that was underneath, and Lucy had also liked how the chairs looked very fancy as well. They were not wooden and creaky like the ones at Fairy Tail, and the blonde mage also could tell that they were very durable. Four white chairs had been surrounding all of the round tables that were black, and Sting truly did have a pretty good sense of style. He wanted his guild to look the best, and he was hoping that Sabertooth would also be the best next year.

This guild had a brown bar like the one at Fairy Tail, but it was a self-serving bar with its machines for drinks, candy, and chips. There was even a waffle machine that dispensed waffles, and the ice cream machine stayed pretty cold with the help of Rufus having Gray's Ice-Make Magic in his memory. There was also a pinball machine in the guild that kept track of the scores, and the person who had the highest score of 987,654,123 points was Sting. He certainly was a pretty skilled guy, and Lector had known perfectly well that no one would beat his blond friend's record for quite a while.

Lucy had more happiness in her cocoa brown eyes when she saw a machine dispensing the finest desserts that anyone could ask for, and the paintings on the walls behind her were portraying Sting doing many poses with his red Exceed named Lector. The gold reception desk at the back of the room with two golden elevators next to it appeared to be where a Mage could join the guild. Classical music being played by a violin could be heard through a speaker somewhere in the gold ceiling, and Sting noticed his companion's smile.

He was really glad to see that she was taking in the elegance of it all, enjoying her new surroundings, and Sting told himself that he was lucky to have met a girl who looked pretty cute. Not only was Lucy attractive, but she was also very strong as well. Her Wind Magic had showed Lucy's new strength yesterday, and her Water Magic had saved Sting's life. Even though Lucy probably had no idea about who she was dealing with, she still stepped in to save Sting, Rogue, and Yukino from the watery wrath of Shelly Izumi. Speaking of that woman, Sting had turned around before entering the guild to see that only Shelly's wet clothes were on the ground.

The white dragon slayer had wondered where that black-haired villain had gone, having a feeling that she went to an unknown place, but it was probably impossible to track her now. If she had taken off her clothes, then Shelly would not be smart enough to run through the streets. She was obviously hiding somewhere now, but Sting had to get his mind off of her. He was just still creeped out about the fact that he had almost been frozen through what would've been his first kiss, and he was glad that his first kiss was not with such an evil woman.

"Hey, Sting. Before I actually get to stay in the guild, check out this request that I got from the request board at the Fairy Tail guild. It may be tied to that woman we fought today, but I have no idea about who she was or what she had been after. In fact, I had mostly wondered if she was a dark mage that was sent to kill you and your friends. It sure looked that way to me." Lucy told him in a calm tone while looking a bit sad at the fact that she did not intervene sooner, pulling out the neatly folded brown flyer from the left pocket of her yellow skirt.

He responded nicely while putting his hands on her shoulders, looking into her sweet cocoa brown eyes while having a kind facial expression, "There's no need to look down about it, Lucy. You saved our lives, and that's what matters. Anyway, that woman we all fought is known as Shelly Izumi. She's a wanted criminal from a guild known as Aqua Kyogre, but no one knows where it is. She had managed to steal the Red Orb from the Oceanic Museum in Cerulean Town, but it's probably not in the wet clothes that she left behind. I wonder what she did with it."

Sting gently took the brown flyer that had been in Lucy's hands, and he unfolded it to see that this was a request for someone to watch over the precious treasure that was in the museum. This seemed a bit strange to Sting, clearly having seen Shelly take the Red Orb before she had jumped out of one of the museum's windows with it, and he had wondered if the curator was actually stupid enough to think that people would steal models of ships or water samples from other regions. Sting also sighed a bit while thinking that the museum should have better protection, but this job was worth doing if the curator offered up 900,000 jewels. Quite a lot of money, wouldn't you agree?

The white dragon slayer would not just be doing this for the money, though, since he wanted to repay Lucy for saving his life earlier. If anyone from Shelly's guild tried to attack Lucy for what had happened earlier, the blond male told himself that he would use Holy Nova to make them meet their end. Also, Sting liked how Lucy's eyes were so brown like tasty chocolate, and she looked very fashionable as well. Sting would not make any flirty moves on her, especially since Lucy was probably still hurt by the drama that Natsu had caused her, and Lucy may not be looking for a relationship yet. However, he also knew that the key to bonding with someone was building chemistry.

Seeing this as a good opportunity to pay Lucy back for helping him out, Sting simply smirked while challenging her to a friendly race while he would lead her in the eastern direction to reach the town of Cerulean. Lucy smiled confidently while accepting his race, happy to be having fun on the way to Cerulean Town, and both of the mages ran out of the guild quickly to signal that their race had started. Lector had flown out of the guild to follow his friends, and Yukino could only blush pink while she was surprised to see that Sting was so excited to watch over a museum.

Rogue said nothing while looking calm, as he took the Celestial Spirit Wizard's hands in his to sink down into the door's shadow with her, and the red-eyed dragon slayer would simply move through the shadows with Yukino to reach the museum. He was hoping to get there before Sting, knowing that his friend would start a riot with people from Shelly's guild if he possibly came into contact with them, and Rogue had also taken notice of Sting trying to subtly pass hints of flirting towards Lucy. She had not gotten his hints, but Rogue figured that her smarts were eventually going to help her understand those hints.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

Erza had been checking the watch on her left hand for a few minutes now, almost like she was waiting for someone or something, and the scarlet-haired mage folded her arms while she sat at a table with Gray. She had been waiting for Lucy to come back from a job, having seen her in the guild earlier this morning, and Erza had assumed that Lucy would just take a typical easy job that was close to Magnolia. Jobs that were close to the guild usually came with cheap rewards, usually up to 2,000 jewels as the highest reward, so they weren't that great.

The money was not the issue in Erza's situation, though. If Lucy had been taking a job that was easy and close to the town of Magnolia, then why had she not come back yet? Lucy was not weak enough to be defeated by easy enemies, so she should've easily defeated them with the help of Loke or one of her other Celestial Spirits. As Erza was also keeping Natsu's affair a secret from Lucy, she also wondered why the entire guild was in almost full attendance. Lucy was the only person absent right now, and she had never gone out on jobs alone.

Narrowing her brown eyes while she continued to be deep in thought, Erza had remembered hearing a few noises that sounded like faint explosions in the distance. It didn't seem like anything serious had been going on, nothing to really worry about, but Erza just hoped that Lucy had not gotten on the wrong train to end up in a place like that. Even though she was keeping Natsu's affair from reaching Lucy's ears, Erza had only done it to not hear Lucy's bawling and screaming over such a matter. She did not want to see Lucy cry, either, knowing how that would be painful to witness.

As she looked up from the table to see Natsu and Lisanna kissing while they stood near a window, both of the mages blushing happily while Lisanna was about to help Natsu take off his shirt, Erza had the idea of using the fire dragon slayer to find Lucy. However, she could also tell that he was too busy with Lisanna to do any searching right now. Erza could probably ask Gray to help her, but then that would mean Juvia would want to join in on the job as well. Also, was it really a good idea to tell Juvia that she would be looking for her "love rival"?

Since Cana was running the bar right now, that only left Erza with one unfortunate option. She would have to ask the woman who she had a rivalry with, ever since they had met, and that was Mirajane. The sword-wielding woman had never really gotten along that well with Mira, usually fighting with her in every single brawl that Natsu would start in the Fairy Tail guild, and they weren't exactly friends. However, before Erza could even go over to a table where Mira was sitting at with Elfman to ask her something, a loud scream of shock from Juvia had gotten the attention of everyone in the guild. What made her so surprised, other than the fact that Gray was fully clothed today?

"Juvia cannot believe it, everyone, but the newspaper is telling Juvia that it is true!" The Rain Woman exclaimed happily while she walked over to Erza's table, gently setting down the newspaper for Gray to check out what the big news could possibly be. He was hoping that it had nothing to do with Lyon possibly saving a town from destruction, or the black-haired male would simply have to top that by saving two towns. Whatever this news could be, it had to be truly exciting for Juvia to get excited about the excitement of a report in the newspaper.

Gray read aloud with a calm look on his face, seeing the big headline that made top news in Fiore right now, "Earlier today, the swift thief known as Shelly Izumi attempted to steal the Red Orb from the Oceanic Museum for purposes that are unknown at this point. She had taken a red herring, however, and it looks like she dropped it off a building while people from the Sabertooth guild gave chase to this sneaky villain. The Magic Council has urged all mages from light and dark guilds alike to be on high alert for people who operate in organizations known as Aqua Kyogre and Magma Groudon. The former attempted to rule the world with Water Magic ten years ago, and they love the sea."

Upon reading all of that, Gray gave Juvia a puzzled look while wondering why she could possibly be happy about something like this. The blue-haired woman smiled happily while telling him that they love the sea, and how they would probably want to be friends with her if they had ever crossed paths. Gray's right eye twitched in pure disbelief at that idea, seeing that the media had labeled these people as villains, and Shelly was probably the leader or one of the commanders under the boss. Even though Shelly was beautiful, Gray knew that she was also a dangerous criminal.

Erza knew that Natsu had not really cared much for Lucy, since him and Lisanna had walked out of the guild during the announcement given by Juvia, and those two must've gone somewhere to continue their make-out session. They would probably even go back to Natsu's house to heat things up in there while they would be happily in love, but it was really their loss since they missed Gray read the top report for today's issue of the newspaper. If they ever encountered Aqua Kyogre and challenged them to a fight, the seemingly more dangerous of the two organizations, then Natsu and Lisanna would only have themselves to blame if they lost.

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><p><strong>At the Oceanic Museum...<strong>

While Yukino and Rogue had their jobs of respectively keeping watch on the first and second floors of the museum, Sting had taken Lucy down to a lower floor where there appeared to be an underground hot spring for the prospect of relaxation. There were surprisingly no fish down here, since this water had been kept sparkling clean by someone, but Sting was probably the only person in the museum who had discovered this passage. He had actually come across it a few minutes ago, but the white dragon slayer just thought that it was an underground chamber for the fish.

He had actually stepped on one of the blue-green tiles on the first floor of the museum while holding Lucy's hand by accident, causing her to be scared while the floor tiles quickly flipped over from underneath them, and Lucy fell down to the green grass with Sting. There was a circle of beautiful green grass surrounding this hot spring, some pretty flowers adding a nice touch to this place, but Lucy looked suspicious as her cocoa brown eyes caught sight of the museum's yellow walls and the blue tiled floor above them. How could flowers, grass, and sparkling water in a hot spring be thriving in places with no sunlight?

This may have probably been an old part of the museum, and it was really weird to find a steamy hot spring still bubbling like someone had recently been here. What in the world was going on in this place, and who could possibly be here? Deciding to now ignore the questions that had no answer, Lucy chose this place as her new area for training with her Water Magic. Even though she had technically defeated Shelly earlier, Lucy narrowed her brown eyes while knowing that her opponent now knew that she could use three spells from the book that had recently turned blue. Lucy could also only use one type of magic at a time, so combining Water Magic with Wind Magic wasn't permitted.

Focusing on what she wanted from the blue spell book, Lucy closed her eyes while summoning up all of her confidence. She closed her cocoa brown eyes while making a spell known as Scalding Shot, and it caused Lucy to unleash a scalding and spiraling beam of blue water from her mouth, and the water was obviously hot by the fact that steam was surrounding it. She aimed the beam down at the hot spring, making the water get a little bit hotter, and Lucy was sent flying up towards the tiled floor. It was pretty obvious that they could get back up through the same tile that sent them falling down, but Lucy had to do some more training.

She held the book in her right hand while unleashing the fifth spell, and it was known as Aqua Torpedo. This spell gave Lucy the ability to create sharks out of water, and they could rocket off towards their targets in the water before exploding on contact with them to create massive blasts of energy. She had used this spell on the hot spring, making the shark explode at the bottom of the lake, but it didn't look like the underwater explosion had done much. It made a few bubbles appear in the water, but that was all that had happened.

Sting exclaimed in a shocked manner while looking startled, as his enhanced hearing picked up some sounds of yelling from above in the first floor of the museum, "Wait, Lucy! Don't use anymore spells for a moment! It looks like we're about to have a little bit of company down here, and that'll be pretty nice for a warm-up! Come on and get us then, since you can hear us so well! You're not exactly smart, if you make a part of the museum's floor sound more hollow than the others while you're simply doing some walking!"

Deciding to go right upstairs and confront whoever Sting was talking with through the ceiling, Lucy called upon her sixth spell of Water Magic. It was known as Aqua Mallea, and the name simply came from the fact that Lucy spat out a gooey blue substance from her mouth before jumping on it with Sting for them to be sprung up high into the air. They flipped over the hollow tile, now back up on the first floor, and the duo of mages quickly raised their left fists to deliver strong punches to the face of the person who must've been their opponent.

Lucy and Sting stepped back to see that their opponent was a girl with long teal hair that was tied back into a short ponytail, and she wore a blue and white striped shirt with black pants to match. Lucy honestly had to outright judge her fashion sense as being really bad, and the blonde mage also said how the girl's look was similar to that of a pirate of some kind. Sting looked pretty stern while seeing the teal-haired girl rub her bruised cheek as she glared at the two mages for finding the secret hideout that was no longer kept secret. (My jokes are kind of corny, I know.)

"I was planning to sneak in here and steal the Red Orb that Shelly had spoken of, and I planned to pull of the theft perfectly by going down to the secret hideout. Unfortunately, it looks like a couple of pesky mages stumbled upon it. Well, don't feel bad that a grunt wizard from Aqua Kyogre took you out in one shot! You're going down, and I'll be taking that orb! Besides, even if I do somehow lose, it'll get taken anyway by the upper-level grunts. By the way, Blondie, don't criticize my sense of style when yours makes me want to throw up. Oh, well. At least you look weaker than that rampaging guy named Natsu Dragneel." The grunt told them in a cocky tone, smirking arrogantly while not knowing that Lucy nearly defeated Shelly.

Upon hearing that girl say that Lucy was weaker than Natsu, her ex-boyfriend who had cheated on her with Lisanna, the blonde mage's fists clenched tightly while she began to clench her teeth together as well. Her body was shaking while her blonde hair had obscured her eyes, but Lucy quickly lifted her head to give Shelly's little lackey a pretty pissed off look. Sting stepped back a bit while knowing that it was a life lesson to never say that a girl who had been cheated on was weaker than her ex, and now he'd get to see Lucy let out her feelings about the fire dragon slayer while her blue book began to shine brightly.

The teal-haired woman fired ten ice shards from her fingertips towards Lucy, and these ice shards grew in size with distance. However, Lucy quickly created the seventh spell known as Scalding Sapphire Rage. It caused a wall of hot water to be created right in front of Lucy, acting like a shield as its heat melted the ice shards down to nothing, and it reflected the attack back at the grunt by unleashing ten vortexes of water that fused into a large one for a pretty fierce attack. Lucy watched the vortex attack her opponent, creating ten sapphire blue blasts of Water Magic, and they were pretty large like they had chained their levels of power together.

The pressure of the vortex and the power of the blasts had been focused enough to only damage Lucy's opponent, so the museum was okay. The smoke cleared up quickly to reveal that the grunt had water leaking out of her legs and her neck, almost like she was not human because of the fact that blood did not come out at all, and she was obviously a decoy made with Water Magic. Even though Sting had told Lucy to not waste her energy on the leaking decoy, since the real person wasn't there, the blonde girl still felt really upset about being called weaker than Natsu. She wouldn't take that from anybody, even a Water Clone.

Lucy's blue book kept shining brightly while she was making her eighth and final spell of Water Magic, and this would be the attack that would finish off the clone for good. Even if the real person was outside, Lucy would make sure that they still took damage from this move. It was known as Aqua Melancholy, and this spell caused Lucy to create a large blue sphere of Water Magic in her hands, and she threw it straight at the Water Clone to end this fight. This attack could follow its opponents, as well as absorbing any attack sent at it, and its power would be exponentially increased with the effect of chain power.

In a few seconds, a light blue blast of Water Magic transpired while making blue smoke appear in the process! The blast's power had not damaged the museum in the slightest, but using up so much magical power like that with her rage had made Lucy fall to her knees while she panted heavily. Even though the Water Clone had now burst, the fight still wasn't over. Sting and Rogue had both seen Yukino come downstairs while some grunts from Aqua Kyogre had put the Celestial Spirit Mage's hands behind her back to keep her from summoning any help.

To make matters more interesting, Shelly had walked into the museum with an smug smile on her face while she had heard every single pant that Lucy was letting out. The black-haired woman was still in her lacy white bra and lacy white panties, looking soaking wet like she had been waiting underwater until the fight was over, and Sting groaned in frustration while he knew that defeating her was not exactly possible yet. It seemed like she had recovered quickly as well, her injuries from earlier having been healed, and Shelly slowly walked over to Lucy before she squatted down in front of the blonde girl.

"Wow, what a shame. You do have a lot of talent and creativity with those spells, Lucy Heartfilia, but you made the major flaw of letting your anger get to you. I was nearly beaten by you when you had your emotions under control, but your body language tells me that you suffer from a broken heart. I feel sorry for you, but you're just not emotionally strong. When you've learned how to control your heart, then you will not use too much power. Now look at how exhausted you are, little girl. Learn that being physically and mentally strong are only part of dealing with magic, and then let's see if you won't be so pathetic. Enjoy the waters of my hot spring, rookie, and think of my little Water Clone distraction as payback for when your smoke distracted me." Shelly told Lucy in a devious and cold manner, her criticism of Lucy stabbing the blonde girl in the heart like a knife while she rubbed Lucy's left cheek with her left hand.

Suddenly, before Sting could react to help her, Shelly kicked Lucy hard in the stomach while sending her flying towards Sting. He ran towards her to catch her, not knowing that he stepped on the tile that would send him down to the hot spring, and Shelly laughed evilly while she had been more than happy to simply organize this supposed invasion as a way to simply give Lucy a test. She had actually made one of her guild's grunts set up a secret camera in Fairy Tail before she and Lucy had ever met, and Shelly had seen the blonde girl watching Natsu kiss Lisanna on the tape when the grunt had brought the footage to Aqua Kyogre's hideout.

As Shelly walked out of the museum, however, she told the grunts to release Yukino from their grasp. They ran out of the museum quickly while seeing Shelly's glare, not wanting to be hurt by a woman who had only shown off a fraction of her strength when she fought Lucy, but seeing the grunts run away did not give Yukino any sense of happiness. She received the bag of 900,000 jewels from the curator, but the hazel-eyed woman was more concerned about how Lucy was feeling from being criticized like that. Yukino hoped that she would be okay, and hopefully not depressed.

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><p><strong>In the hot spring...<strong>

Lucy had used the last bits of her strength to take off her clothes, stripping down to a black lacy bra with lacy black panties, and she had fallen into the hot water of the hot spring. She put her red flat shoes on the grass with her orange top and her yellow skirt, and Lucy let out a depressed sigh while she couldn't believe how embarrassing it was to get riled up over a decoy because it had mentioned Natsu to her. Was she really bottling up her emotions, not letting them out properly or converting them to where they would not give her any damage?

Lucy had told herself that she wanted to move on from him, be free from the pain that he had caused to her, and her mind had understood that. However, had her heart not gotten the message to move on? Two days had passed since she had broken up with him for cheating on her with Lisanna, and Lucy had wanted to get revenge on them. However, how could she hope to beat them when she had fallen for the decoy grunt that Shelly had created? How could Lucy get better, if she wasted all of her power against a Water Clone?

She let the tears run down her face while the hot spring was healing her body, taking away the pain from Shelly's powerful kick against her stomach, and sobs wracked Lucy's body. She had thought that not being in a relationship and trying to enjoy eing single would work, but it clearly hadn't. That strategy had failed, and Lucy could even imagine Fairy Tail winning the Grand Magic Games again while Natsu and Lisanna would be kissing. She wanted to get them out of her heart, no longer feel the harsh pain that she felt from seeing them kiss, but Lucy did not know what to do.

"No matter how many spells I learn, I'm a failure at love! Natsu left me because he got bored of me, and Lisanna is what he wanted! I could've been better, I could've gotten stronger, but I'm so emotionally weak! I actually got tricked by Shelly before she made me feel like I wasn't good enough to be wielding so much power, and I don't know if I'll ever be ready to battle again! My heart feels so alone right now, and thinking of Natsu makes my heart break when my anger and confidence try to restore it! The pain of being a failure hurts, Sting!" Lucy shouted loudly while crying as the steam rose around her, the blonde mage's confidence feeling destroyed.

The white dragon slayer responded in a calm tone while he had took off all of his clothes to only be wearing his orange swim trunks now, giving Lucy a comforting look as he swam over to her, "Lucy, listen to me. You are not a failure, ok? You are so much more than that, and Natsu just couldn't see that. Even if he chose Lisanna over you, there's no need to act like they're better than you. Shelly may be more experienced than you, which is probably true, but don't let her words rattle you so much! Maybe she wants a rematch someday with you because she believed you to be excellent, and I believe you to be good as well! Who says that one mistake makes you a failure, Lucy? People can grow stronger by experiencing failure like I did, and you will become strong. You're not alone at all, and I'll be right beside you every step of the way."

From hearing his speech, Lucy could only hug Sting while wrapping her arms around his back as she cried and sniffled. No on had ever said so many nice and inspirational things to her before, and the blonde mage could tell that Sting was right. She could not let one mistake be enough of a reason for her to be deemed as a failure, and Lucy also could not let down her new friends by being depressed. She also could not let herself down, either, and Lucy needed to have more pride in herself. She would not give up or be beaten down easily, and Lucy had now promised herself to officially work on erasing her leftover feelings of sadness about Natsu and Lisanna being together.

While she was in the water with Sting, Lucy blushed pink while she saw him wipe her tears away. He was such a nice guy, wanting to return the favor because she had saved his life, and Lucy smiled a bit as she got to look into his charming blue eyes. They were so beautiful, having such a relaxing effect on her, and Lucy's crying had stopped. Her tears had now ceased, and she felt like relaxing in Sting's blue eyes that were warm like the water in the hot spring. She had lost her will to speak because of the warmth that she was now feeling from being in his arms, and Lucy could only sigh happily while she smiled at the thought of considering to be in a relationship again.

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><p><strong>How was the 6th chapter? Did you like it? Quite emotional, was it not? Lucy now has a new rival, but this does not make Natsu a lesser antagonist in this story already. He'll have his moments where he can be a jerk, but who cares about him? The StiCy is building up, and Sting shall help Lucy become stronger! How shall they build chemistry, you ask? Standby for the update, and you'll see!<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Kiss of Bliss, Fairies Get Tricked<strong>

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><p>Lucy had found herself running through a vast desert in the daytime, the harsh sunlight shining down on to the golden sand, and the blonde mage had to wonder why she was even here. No winds were blowing at all, causing this desert to be a very hot place, and Lucy screamed in pain from seeing that she was barefoot while walking through this place. Lucy had not even taken a job in the desert, since Sting had figured that she was not ready for that kind of terrain yet, and the white dragon slayer had told her that they would go there when Lucy was actually ready.<p>

She wiped some sweat off of her forehead, perspiring while it seemed like there was something that she had to keep running from, and Lucy still winced in pain from the hot sand. It was unclear as to why she was even here, not wanting to be alone in such a hot desert, and the blonde mage did not even have the blue spell book with her to get some soothing relief from her Water Magic. That would've definitely cooled her down, making things a lot better right now, but it sadly was not available to her right now. Without water, how would Lucy survive in a desert?

The blonde mage panted heavily while feeling utterly exhausted, falling down on to the golden sand that was hot enough to fry an egg or toast waffles on, and she could only look up at the sun while noticing that it was making a beautiful white light. That was the same color of light used by Sting, since he possessed white light for his White Dragon Slayer Magic, and Lucy could only sigh happily while blushing a light shade of pink as she thought of the cocky male. He was such a nice guy, caring enough to give her that speech of inspiration in the hot spring, and Lucy liked his attitude.

He was so different from Natsu, so much more gentle and calm with her, and Lucy smiled happily while she remembered how Sting looked so buff and good in the hot spring. She had even rested her head against his chest when they went to the Oceanic Museum last week, and Lucy had been blushing happily while her hands stroked his arms gently. They were so muscular and warm, letting her know that Sting a guy who truly liked to work out, and Sting rubbed her back with one of his hands. That had caused Lucy to blush more while her mind had been lost in the calmness of his beautiful blue eyes, and she hoped to get back to him soon.

However, before Lucy could even try to find a way out of this desert, she looked shocked while hearing something like a stampede behind her. The blonde girl turned around slowly to see that it was Shelly looking pretty serious while ran through the desert in her white lacy bra and white lacy panties, kicking up tons of sand while she was running towards the brown-eyed girl at high speeds, and she was also perspiring while her clothes had become wet from all of the sweat. If this was the type of workout for her guild, then Lucy did not want to be a part of it. She couldn't react fast enough to get out of the way, and Shelly jumped into the air to come down with a powerful body slam on Lucy.

She had grabbed Lucy's arms while being on top of her, preventing her from moving, and the black-haired woman smirked evilly while she had pinned Lucy down. Shelly would not let Lucy move at all, and the blonde girl took notice of the tanned woman's speed. She had definitely worked out, her heavy panting like she was definitely training, and that would explain why she had kicked Lucy so hard at the Oceanic Museum. Shelly was also pretty fast as well, having caught up to Lucy so fast, and she had put her left hand over Lucy's mouth to not let her speak.

"I caught up to you already, Lucy Heartfilia, and you're just too slow. Let's just face the facts, sweetie. You will never beat me, no matter how hard you try, and it's because you let your emotions get to you. They always cloud your judgement, making you think that anger is the right way to go, and you need to calm down. Crying over Natsu will get you nowhere, and I even think that you may never even beat him. You're just so very sad, little girl, and you're going to drown in your emotions." Shelly explained to Lucy in a cold tone while she slammed her left leg on the blonde girl's left leg to break it. The tremendous force made Lucy scream in pain, and tears were in her eyes.

Even though she was wounded right now, Lucy took Shelly's hand off of her mouth while knowing that she had now promised herself to become stronger. She was not going to let anyone defeat her ever again, not wanting to ever be used again as well, and Lucy had also promised herself that she'd make Sting proud. The blonde mage was not going to ever let him be in a situation like where he had almost died from freezing, and she narrowed her brown eyes while using her right leg to kick Shelly off of her. Lucy needed to believe that she could control her emotions, and that's just what she planned to do.

She responded fiercely while clenching her fists tightly, looking stern with determination in her cocoa brown eyes, "You're wrong about me, Shelly, and you're going to go down someday! I may not be as skilled as you are, and I refuse to be sad about Natsu anymore! My heart may have retained feelings for him, but they're gone now! I'm going to look for a much better guy, someone who will actually like me, and that guy is in the guild of Sabertooth! I heard how you underestimated Sting and Rogue last week, so you'll pay for that!"

As Lucy's words of determination made her become more fierce, her left leg began to magically heal like the damage had never been done. She had now been able to stand up, only to see that Shelly looked pretty angry to see that Lucy was trying so hard to no longer be weak. The tanned woman began to tower over Lucy, glaring angrily at her opponent for defying her, but a large blast of white light had suddenly blinded the eyes of Shelly and Lucy! The blonde girl could feel her body being shook by a mysterious force, and the sound of someone snapping their fingers had made Lucy snap out of this fantasy.

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><p><strong>In reality...<strong>

Sting had snapped his fingers in Lucy's face once more, hoping for some kind of a response from her, and the white dragon slayer told her that there was a stack of chocolate chip pancakes in front of her. He had gotten breakfast for her at the Sabertooth guild, having gone to the pancake machine to get some pancakes that were filled with the finest chocolate that Fiore had to offer, and Sting had also put a perfect swirl of whip cream at the top of the stack for his blonde companion. He wanted her to enjoy the breakfast he had gotten for her, and it was another one of his ways of flirting with Lucy.

The blonde girl blinked twice while she had been brought back to reality by Sting snapping his fingers in her face, and the heavenly aroma of the chocolate chip pancakes had made Lucy begin to smile happily. Grabbing the golden knife and golden fork on the table in front of her, Lucy began to cut her pancakes into pieces that could be eaten easily. She used the fork to pick up a few of the pieces, getting some of the yummy chocolate chips as well, and Lucy felt like she was tasting the greatest pancakes in the world while she was chewing her food.

This nice breakfast had really helped Lucy feel more positive, and she was also glad to have her confidence back. An entire week had passed by, since the almost-successful theft made by Shelly at the Oceanic Museum, and Sting had been helping Lucy train hard to improve her Water Magic. She had been learning how to keep her emotions under control, clearing her mind of all the unhappy thoughts that had involved Natsu being with Lisanna, and Lucy just had to focus on her new motivation. She was not only going to get back at Natsu for what he had done, but the blonde girl was also going to improve her skills to not let Sting down.

She was going to get up to the level of where he needed her to be, and Lucy was happy that the white dragon slayer had believed that she could do it. Lucy also found herself to be glad that she hadn't gone to the Fairy Tail guild for an entire week, since the Sabertooth guild's request board was filled with jobs that were somewhat exciting, and Sting had made her train on their enjoyable quests. He had even made Lucy use her Water Magic in the sea near the town of Lilycove, and her spells were starting to improve. Her offensive spells could be used defensively as well, and their combinations with Aquarius worked great.

Speaking of ways to use spells, Sting had also let Lucy know that she could become an expert like Shelly by making her moves look really good. Simple moves that involved an attack with an explosive effect were seemingly good, but aftereffects like making water into beautiful whirlpools could also be good. Being full of surprises was something that Shelly had specialized in, and Lucy's cocoa brown eyes were filled with confidence while she clenched her fists. Upon remembering how the tanned woman berated her back at the museum and in her daydream, Lucy was definitely psyched up to improve her skills in an effort to shut Shelly's mouth when they would meet again.

Sting asked Lucy in a calm manner while smiling, having something on his mind that he could use as a step forward to improving the chemistry of their team, "Hey, Lucy. Since I haven't really given you a good tour around Rustboro, would you like to go with me to a new cafe that opened up recently? I hear that they've got some good stuff, but they don't let people go in there alone. Lector is planning on taking that white cat from Fairy Tail to that cafe sometime, so would you go with me to just have a nice time? It'd be a well-deserved reward for working so hard with me, you know."

From hearing his question, the blonde mage immediately turned away while her cheeks were blushing pink. Sting had spoke of taking her on a tour around the town before they went to a cafe to enjoy some time together, and that totally was another way of asking her out on a date. Lucy did not have any of her fashionable dresses available right now to be on a date, but the fact that Sting was wearing his usual attire just meant that she could simply wear what she had put on before coming to the Sabertooth guild today. Even though Lucy was now ready to look for a new relationship, she did not want to look desperate in front of Sting if he wasn't wanting the same thing.

She continued to blush pink while turning around to face him, smiling happily and letting out a sigh of attraction while Lucy's beautiful brown eyes met the loving gaze of his charming blue ones, "I would definitely love to go out on a date with you, Sting, and I know that I'll be so happy with you at my side. I'll be your date while we're at the cafe, and I would love to be feeding you a slice of cake while getting to know you. You have very pretty eyes, Sting, and you're like the confident whip cream to the sweet chocolate of my pancakes."

Lucy felt so enchanted by the beauty of Sting's eyes, and the brown-eyed girl checked her clothes in the reflection of a nearby window to make sure that she looked okay for their date. She wore a green midriff T-shirt with some blue jean shorts today, and her purple flat shoes were a nice touch to make her look pretty appealing for a date. Lucy had her beautiful blonde hair down, and she waved it back and forth while being happy that Sting asked her out. She even cheered loud enough about her excitement to get the entire guildhall looking her way, but Lucy did not care. She looked determined to make this a great date, better than any date that she ever went on with Natsu.

Sting smiled calmly at Lucy while he saw how happy she had been to be going on a date with him, and the blue-eyed male told himself that he would get to know Lucy on a deep level. She was so nice, kind, confident, fierce, smart, and those were only a few of the qualities that the white dragon slayer had been looking for in a girl. After last week's dilemma, he hoped that his words would never go to waste. Sting wanted Lucy to take his advice, and he also hoped that things would be reciprocal. Upon seeing Lector fly through the Sabertooth guild's entrance doors while smirking directly at his partner, Sting was glad to see that a delivery to a certain guild had now been done.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

It had been a whole week since Lucy had even walked into the guild of Fairy Tail, and some people had begun to start asking questions about where she might be. They had always gone through the daily routine of not saying much to her when she entered the guild, keeping Natsu's affair from reaching the ears of Lucy, but the blonde mage's week-long absence had made everyone wonder about what she could be doing. Lucy would not miss a day of going out on a job, since she supposedly still had 70,000 jewels of rent to pay each month, but no one knew about her current situation.

Natsu had continued to make out with Lisanna while they sat down at a table together, and the fire dragon slayer simply thought that Lucy had been avoiding him. He could tell that she had been headed to the harbor on the last day that they saw each other, but then she had suddenly vanished into the wind like a ghost. Natsu was not able to detect her location, based on the aroma of flowers having a scent that overshadowed Lucy's, and no trace of her had been left behind. He even went to her apartment, but Lucy's scent was not even there at all. He obviously did not know that she used a new perfume from the guild of Sabertooth, since they had the latest technology, fashion, flair, trends, perfumes, desserts, and other things that the rest of Fiore did not. Quite high-class, wouldn't you agree?

Erza had been worried enough to start searching other areas of Fiore, thinking that something bad happened to Lucy on the last job that she took from the guild of Fairy Tail, but the scarlet-haired mage had found nothing. She had checked the desert area while Gray had helped her search for Lucy by looking in the cold places of Fiore, but neither Gray or Erza could find her. They were starting to regret keeping the secret about Natsu dating Lisanna, especially since Natsu once openly accused them of telling Lucy about his long affair with Lisanna. Erza hadn't said anything about it, but she knew that someone with loose lips had played a role in Lucy's mysterious absence from the guild.

Natsu and Lisanna had also been eating two large chocolate cakes that were made by Cana, who was running the bar while Mira and Happy had gone to Fairy Hills to pick up a package that was strangely sent there, and the pink-haired male smiled happily at his girlfriend while knowing that their seven-month anniversary was going to be coming up. Natsu was planning to throw a huge party to help Lisanna celebrate their special day, and he had even ordered a bouquet of roses to give her for when they would be sharing a passionate kiss of romance.

He was also hoping that Lucy would get to watch him be in love with the girl who he wanted to be with, and Natsu planned to simply be romantic with Lisanna in front of the blonde mage to make her regret dumping him. He thought that she would cry over him and get angry about him being with Lisanna, causing a whole scene of drama to unfurl in front of everyone in Fairy Tail, and Natsu would simply laugh it off while people might possibly tell Lucy to grow up. They would want her to either be mature about the matter, or simply leave the party. Natsu had thought that Lucy was still being weak on missions as well, but his thoughts and some familiar screams were about to tempt fate.

Mira quickly opened Fairy Tail's entrance doors while having a totally shocked look on her face, speaking in a really surprised tone as she had what seemed to be a newspaper in her left hand, "Everyone, you're really not going to believe this! I never thought that this would happen at all, but it looks like we caused the inevitable! I know that love and matchmaking are things that I enjoy, but I never would've guessed that keeping the secret about Natsu and Lisanna would have led up to this! I knew that I should've at least checked the flyer to see where she was going before she had ran out of the guild after ignoring me!"

When Erza had gone over to Mira to see why exactly she was freaking out like this, the scarlet-haired woman's first guess was that Lucy had died somewhere. Erza did not want that to happen, and she was very glad to see that wasn't the top news in the paper when she took it from the hands of Mirajane. When the armor-requipping woman had seen the top news for the day, she also could not believe it. Erza looked totally shocked at what she was seeing, and the picture was certainly not lying. It spoke a lot, just like the words about the topic, and this strange incident in the paper made Cana and Gray see what could be so shocking.

The brown-haired woman read aloud while she was also surprised by what was seen in the newspaper, "Last week, the Sabertooth guild did an excellent job of saving the Oceanic Museum in Cerulean Town from having its precious items stolen by the guild known as Aqua Kyogre. Lucy Heartfilia, a mage from Fairy Tail who happened to be on the scene, had helped Sting Eucliffe send Aqua Kyogre's grunts running for the hills. She was evenly matched with Shelly Izumi in a hand-to-hand combat battle, until Lucy and her Celestial Spirit named Virgo had chained Shelly up to try and restrain her. Shelly escaped, but the museum thanks Sabertooth and their new team member for saving the lives of innocent patrons."

At that moment, Gray totally could not believe what he had just heard. Lucy had gone all the way to Cerulean Town, a place on the other side of Fiore, and she had helped Sabertooth chase off those guys from Aqua Kyogre? They were the same dangerous organization that Juvia wanted to join because she thought that she'd be well-liked by them, but Gray could still not wrap his head around the fact that Lucy had gone toe-to-toe with a dangerous criminal. Even though he was glad that she had managed to survive without getting hurt, however, the ice mage wished that he had been there to not let Shelly escape like that.

While Gray had seemed pretty happy to see a picture of his blonde friend smiling happily while she stood next to Sting, Rogue, and Yukino, there was one person who was not so pleased. Natsu was a bit angry to hear that his biggest rival chased away Aqua Kyogre, but he was more furious at the fact that Lucy had now been called a team member to be associated with those guys from the rival guild of Sabertooth. He did not like them at all, and the fire dragon slayer had to wonder if they were the reason why Lucy hadn't shown up to Fairy Tail in a week. He would be an idiot to go confront her, but he was more of an idiot to fall for an article that Sting himself had typed up at Rustboro's publishing company while Lector had taken the picture when Sting's team was ready to leave the museum. That was one point of payback by trolling Natsu, right?

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><p><strong>At the cafe in Rustboro...<strong>

When they had entered the new cafe that had just opened in the town of Rustboro, Sting and Lucy gasped in awe at the elegant red carpet with the brown walls to match. Pictures of coffee drinks and desserts were hung on the walls, and the white dragon slayer led his date to a table in the northeast corner of the cafe. It was near the red counter where the cashier was situated, so that was great. Sting calmly smiled while pulling out Lucy's chair for her, and she happily sat down while smiling at Sting for being such a gentleman. After he sat down, both of them pushed the chairs inward to be comfortable.

The heavenly aroma of a pink cake from a nearby table had gotten Sting's attention, and Lucy could also smell how sweet it was while Hibiki Lates seemed to be enjoying it with Jenny Realight. Even though Sting and Lucy did not know what the cake was, seeing the large white icing and red juicy strawberries arranged in a wonderful manner on that heart-shaped cake were some sights that were enough to tell them that they just had to try it. The cake smelled so delicious, and it probably tasted even more heavenly than it looked. Upon seeing Hibiki and Jenny drink their coffees while sighing in pleasure at the fancy taste, Lucy knew that she had to place an order like that.

"Hi, there! Welcome to Cafe Kawaii! What would you and your date like today from our cute establishment where love is always in the air?" The cashier girl asked kindly with a smile while it took Lucy a few seconds to realize that it was Chelia Blendy out on a job for the day.

Lucy blushed when the pink-haired sky god slayer used the word "date" to describe Sting because they weren't actually dating. However, maybe they had enough chemistry to become dating partners and something more. Well, he had taken her to a cafe. It seemed like a pretty romantic start for two people to have their first date, even though Lucy was only here as Sting's friend. However, she also knew that her feelings had to be shown to him. She did not want to give him mixed signals about how she felt on her first date with him, the date where the first impression truly counts. Ignoring her thoughts, Lucy placed an order while looking at the menu board near Chelia.

"Hi, Chelia. According to the cafe's menu board, I think that my date and I shall have the Strawberry Cake of Bliss with the Make Love Mint Chocolate Frappuccinos as well. He's not my boyfriend or anything, but we're just building chemistry together as a pair. However, he makes me blush while my heart flutters when I look into his eyes." Lucy told Chelia with a happy smile on her face as she blushed romantically while handing her the 65 bills of 100 jewels that totaled up to 6,500 jewels to match the price of her order.

The cute mage from Lamia Scale responded happily while she totaled up the price that matched 6,500 jewels and took the money from Lucy, "Wow, you want the cake for couples? That's totally romantic, Lucy! I've heard a rumor going around that people who eat that cake together end up being really happy, and they end up falling into a love that blooms like the most beautiful roses."

In 10 minutes, thanks to the chefs being such skilled bakers with culinary skills that were mainly focused around desserts, the Strawberry Cake of Bliss was ready along with the two large cups of Mint Chocolate Frappuccinos. Lucy placed the two drinks on the nearby table where Sting waited for her, and then she went back to the counter to get the receipt. Afterwards, Lucy sat back down at the table with her blond partner. How would this cake end up tasting, since it had an aroma that could be more heavenly than the magic of Jellal Fernandes?

Lucy sat across from Sting, who smiled when he took a sip of his mint chocolate frappuccino. The mint flavor in his drink, combined with the chocolate and whip cream, made his tongue pleased to taste something so satisfying. He knew Lucy had good taste, and he was glad that he let her choose the order. Sting even wondered how the cake would taste, since it looked like it had been made to perfection while being in the shape of a heart to symbolize things like love and romance. Sweetness was quite a good thing, was it not?

"I have to admit, this town has almost everything. There's even a corporation for where some items of Holder Magic are made while different types of Caster Magic are tested out in the labs, but we'll sadly only get to see the ground floor of it. Those snobby scientists have refused many times to let the great Sting Eucliffe see the upper floors of the corporation, and their cameras even caught Lector when I just wanted him to tell me what he was seeing on the second floor." Sting said with a smile on his face, as he cut a slice of cake and put it on his red plate before eating it to have his mouth taste a delectable and copious amount of sweetness.

Lucy cut a slice of cake for herself and placed it on the red plate in front of her. She drank some of her mint chocolate frappuccino, and then proceeded to taste the pink slice of cake. It had somewhat a sweet strawberry taste to it, with the added effect of having its eater enjoy the cherry filling that was a sweet added bonus, but Lucy didn't mind. The cake was incredibly delicious, and she was glad to be here with Sting. She didn't notice that he was cutting out three more slices of the cake, which would obviously leave the three remaining slices for Lucy to eat. Sting was really good at making Lucy love his charms, right?

This was almost like a date between Sting and Lucy, both of them enjoying each other's company at the cafe, and both of the mages knew perfectly well that eating was half of the date. They knew that they needed to get to know each other, and Lucy made the brave move of starting it off with her question. It would be odd to ask this to the guild master of Sabertooth, not wanting to offend him in any way, but Lucy had to have confidence in her abilities and more control of herself like how she had promised at the hot spring.

"What did you ever think of a person like Minerva, Sting? I mean, did you like a woman who was so intense when it came to competing or did you just judge her based on her overall personality?" Lucy asked curiously while she kept eating her slice of cake and drinking more of her hot minty coffee.

Sting responded calmly, not really getting hints of Lucy's feelings for him, "I used to like Minerva, until she was just using Lector as a means to make me win last year's Grand Magic Games for Team Sabertooth. She used me like a tool, even threatening me to not attack her, and I can't stand women who I act like that. The girl that would suit me is someone with kindness, smarts, confidence, and power doesn't matter because I'd help her out. Besides, that flirty woman named Shelly makes Minerva look nice. She wanted to freeze me to death with a kiss on the lips, and she probably would've escalated with me if I begged her for mercy before you showed up."

Upon hearing Sting's answers, as Lucy finished up her first slice of the cake, she was pretty glad that he looked for the best qualities in girls when it came to finding a decent partner. Lucy was also glad that he was not the perverted type of guy who would have given in to Shelly's seductive moves, and the blonde girl made sure to get back at her later for that. Even though Lucy had just found out about Sting nearly getting frozen to death by a villain, she saw that as another reason to train hard and give Shelly a major beating when they would cross paths again.

Her heart was beating wildly with the taste of the wonderful cake, the delicious mint chocolate frappuccino, and Lucy felt totally happy at the fact that Sting was being able to share this experience with her. Lucy got up, and she was about to tell Sting that these little feelings fluttered around her mind, mostly since she looked into his eyes while they were bathing in the hot spring of her new rival, but how would he react to what she would tell him? Would he say that he liked her, too? Did Sting have any romantic feelings for her at all?

"_This is it. No more holding back. I like Sting, and I'm really starting to admire him. _These feelings may be small, but I need to know if he would like me someday. I know that it's not good to rush into a new relationship after a week, but it's only admitting my attraction to him. If I had just listened to him back at the museum, he would've saved me from being kicked by Shelly. I want to move on from Natsu, and Sting is the guy who replaces my eruptive headaches with calm waters while making me feel more confident about myself." __Lucy thought while clenching her fists and looking determined about what she was going to do.

As she moved to stop Sting to confess her attraction to him, Lucy couldn't help but notice that the pink and white icing from the cake was all over his lips. Sting had not licked off the icing at all while Lucy quickly ate a little bit of one of her remaining slices, and the blonde mage's heart was beating with warmth as she saw the white dragon slayer get up from his chair. Lucy was about to thank him for such a nice date and tell him how she truly felt, but fate made her blush pink while making her look directly into Sting's eyes for his wonderful charms to let her body react instead of her voice.

When he got close enough to Lucy, wondering why she was just standing there, Sting was suddenly a bit shocked to feel Lucy put her hands on his cheeks while her lips had made gentle contact with his lips that were covered in icing. She closed her eyes while beginning to enjoy the kiss that they shared in front of everyone, and she also realized many of the outcomes that came from showing her feelings so openly through a kiss. Sting had given her inspiration, but would he give her rejection as well? Lucy was about to scream from thinking that he'd compare her to Shelly, but something in her heart made her fears be effaced. She gave Sting the kiss of gratitude for the first time that he saved her, hoping he would understand how she felt.

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><p><strong>How was the 7th chapter? Did you like it? Lucy and Sting have now kissed, but how shall Sting react to it? Lucy and Shelly will fight again later on in the story, by the way, and it looks like Natsu is now furious with Lucy for helping out his biggest rival. How will Fairy Tail react to this drama when Lucy makes a big change? Standby for the update!<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>The Fiery Past and The Bright Future<strong>

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><p>Lucy had pressed her lips against Sting's with such gentle ease, making the white dragon slayer feel how soft they were while the kiss had taken him by surprise, and the blonde mage wanted Sting to know that she had small feelings for him. He had closed his eyes after a few seconds, enjoying how Lucy's mouth made him taste the cake that they had shared, but then the blue-eyed male gently broke the kiss when he needed some air. Lucy had intended to just verbally confess to him about her feelings, but fate had chosen to intervene. The blush on her face was at the median between pink and red, but Lucy gasped a bit while she knew that the other customers were watching the romantic scene.<p>

After a few more seconds, she got off of Sting and held out her hand to help him stand up. He accepted her hand while getting up on his feet, and Lucy noticed the calm look in his blue eyes while a pleased facial expression formed on his face. Had he realized her small feelings, or would he laugh and say that Lucy was just trying to desperate move past Natsu by ending this first date with a kiss? Sting told Chelia to make another one of those special cakes with a coffee to go, and he handed her 6,500 jewels. Lucy used this chance to run out of the café, and she looked really embarrassed.

She couldn't believe that she had just done that, not even asking Sting if he already had an interest in someone like Yukino or Minerva, and Lucy felt really bad for kissing him with the thought of her own feelings. She hadn't considered his feelings, and Sting might not even like her that way. She even thought that he would say that being flirty like Shelly was not the way to go, and Lucy did not even look back inside the cafe because she thought that Sting ordered that food to get the taste of her lips out of his mouth. She was really hoping that he would not say that she was moving too fast, and Lucy just wanted to explain everything.

It was not her fault that she had been charmed by the beauty of Sting's eyes, falling into a state of bliss like how she had done with him when they were in Shelly's hot spring, and Lucy had truly been attracted to him. He had been such a nice guy, and he had even saved her earlier in the week when a tree branch broke as she had to climb up a high tree to retrieve a treasure chest. She had screamed in fear while falling from a high height, but Sting had caught her. When he was holding her in his arms, Lucy could only blush and sigh happily from noticing that their lips were only a few centimeters apart.

However, now their lips had truly connected. The blonde mage had only wanted to inform Sting that she had a crush on him, but looking into his beautiful blue eyes had caused Lucy to just let her actions speak louder than her words. Would Sting approve of what she had done, though? Even though he had seemed really pleased by the warmth of her kiss, Lucy did not want him to reject her. She wanted to let her attraction build up to being a relationship, and Sting was the guy who she wanted to be dating. He was much better than Natsu in many ways, but Lucy still berated herself for letting herself lose her head in that moment.

_"Why in the world did I act like a flirtatious idiot back there? I was so ready to just blurt it out and tell him exactly how I felt, but I kissed him! What if Sting already has a girlfriend, and I got in their way? I hope that my first impression was good, but the chances of a positive response from Sting might be really low because of that sudden kiss. He must've found my order of that heart-shaped cake to just be friendly and amusing, so I made the worst move in the history of romance!" _Lucy thought to herself while twiddling her thumbs, blushing a light shade of pink while she looked inside the cafe.

As the white dragon slayer exited Café Kawaii with a large brown bag in his left hand that was containing the cake and the sealed cup of coffee, he handed the melon green book to Lucy and she quickly turned away from him while taking it. Sting narrowed his blue eyes for a moment, realizing Lucy must be uncomfortable after that accidental kiss, and his eyes became calm afterwards for him to say something. She definitely needed to hear this, and it would make everything become more clear. It may also make everything better as well, and Sting was ready to say it.

"Look, I know that was somewhat of an accident. I'd tell you to be more careful, but I guess that you were just lost in the greatness of our date. It was so awesome to talk with you and eat cake with you, but the best part about it would be that I had gotten my first kiss. That was totally shocking, but you know what? The shock let me know that my flirty hints got through to you, Lucy. I loved the kiss we shared, and your lips are awesome." Sting told her while calmly smiling at her, as he attempted to hold her hand in an effort to offer her comfort if she wanted it.

Lucy's cocoa brown eyes twinkled a bit when Sting had told her that he loved the kiss that she had given him, and she blushed happily while hearing that it was his very first kiss. Lucy wanted to jump for joy from knowing that she truly had made a great first impression on the first date, but she had calmed herself down enough to respond with a gentle hug while having her head resting against Sting's chest and feeling his rock-hard abdominals with her hands. Fate had made Lucy actually show Sting how she felt about him, and the odds had definitely been in her favor. They paid off nicely, and Sting put his arms around Lucy.

Sting looked down at her with a smile on his face, enjoying the fact that his friend was now happy, and the white dragon slayer's charming blue eyes had been filled with some happiness while he was glad that his strategy of flirting with Lucy had worked. Sting had even smirked in a confident manner while thinking that his chocolate chip pancakes from earlier had good way to seal the deal with the brown-eyed girl, and he was happy that his efforts paid off. Sting didn't know that Lucy had been sending hints his way as well, and the fact that he loved her kiss had shown Lucy that Sting finally caught on to her flirting.

As Sting and Lucy ended the hug, the blonde girl gasped in shock while she looked at the pink guild insignia of Fairy Tail on the back of her right hand. She had not paid much mind to it for the past week, but Lucy knew that she had to officially part ways with Fairy Tail. It was not just because she wanted to be with Sting in the guild of Sabertooth, but thinking about her old guild had brought back the recent memories of how she had been lied to by the people in Fairy Tail. They were all sneaking around behind her back, hiding Natsu's affair with Lisanna, and Lucy wanted to make them pay for that. Besides, the more that she stayed away, the more likely it was for them to start checking for her in Rustboro or its nearby towns.

Needing to sever the ties with her former friends, since Lucy no longer wanted to carry the guild mark of a place that had made her feel hurt and betrayed, she had explained her situation to Sting. Even though he seemed a bit worried about the fact that Lucy had to keep her emotions under control, she smiled softly while assuring him that everything would be all right. This wouldn't be like the time where she went all-out on a Water Clone at the Oceanic Museum, before Shelly had taken advantage of the blonde's girl to kick her in stomach with tremendous force.

Lucy also promised Sting that she would be back before he knew it, and the blonde girl was suddenly met with Sting giving her a soft kiss to her lips. Lucy blushed pink for a moment, letting it get brighter while it warmed up her cheeks, and she kissed back while enjoying the taste of the white dragon slayer's lips against hers. Lucy began to feel her body warm up in the heat of the moment, making her blush more, and all of these feelings made something heat up blissfully within her heart. After breaking the kiss and telling Sting that there was no need to worry, Lucy ran on the water while heading towards Magnolia to get this important errand over with.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

Lisanna had been trying to calm down Natsu while he seemed pretty miffed at the fact that Lucy had been helping out people from Sabertooth, especially since they were the rivals of people in Fairy Tail, and the fire dragon slayer also could not fathom how Lucy had helped Sting take down dangerous criminals from Aqua Kyogre. Those people were said to be very strong, so not could not believe that the newspaper had even informed everyone that Lucy was able to be evenly matched with Shelly before the tanned thief had escaped.

While Natsu felt like beating up Sting, there was one problem. He did not exactly know where the guild of Sabertooth was located, and going into someone else's guild to start a fight would just make Fairy Tail look like a bunch of bullies. Natsu had actually been the person to bully Lucy on the last day that their paths had crossed, and he had referred to her as being someone who would be a crybaby that threw tantrums when things did not go her way. Lucy would have been crying and seeking attention from if Natsu was the writer of her fate, but he was thankfully not. Natsu thought that Lucy was still the same, but she had changed.

Trying to look at what he had while taking his mind off of what wasn't needed anymore, Natsu kissed Lisanna on her lips while they had been standing by the bar in the guildhall. He knew that being mad over Lucy helping his rival would not really help his relationship right now, and the pink-haired male smiled a bit while looking at the white-haired goddess that he was dating right now. Lisanna had always looked pretty good, and she had been wearing a two-piece blue plaid bikini while Natsu had promised to go with her to the beach today.

Lucy's absence had also caused Natsu to be more nonchalant about it, but Happy and Lisanna had been worried about the blonde mage. While it was good to take down criminals, Lisanna knew that taking down a crew from an infamous organization would make the mages responsible become a threat. Even if Lucy had lent her support with a few simple punches that had been on par with Shelly's, Lisanna knew that getting involved would make Lucy be seen as an adversary to Aqua Kyogre. Just because Lisanna did not want Lucy being in the way of her relationship with Natsu, she did not want anything bad to happen to the Celestial Spirit Mage.

Lisanna had returned the kiss to Natsu, enjoying the feeling of his heated lips against her soft ones, and she was glad that a whole week had gone by with almost no drama involved. The happy couple was now a week closer to their seven-month anniversary, the day that would be full of joy while giving them another month of fun, and the white-haired mage was glad that things were going well. Even though Natsu still wanted to know who told Lucy about him cheating on her while being with Lisanna, neither of them knew that the newspaper article from yesterday was Sting's way of trolling Natsu for how he hurt Lucy. The real paper delivery was always on Friday, three days from now, something that mostly everyone in Fairy Tail had forgotten about.

The blue-eyed girl told her boyfriend in a calm tone, happily smiling as she broke the kiss with him, "Natsu, you're the best guy in the whole world. Please don't get worked up over Lucy helping out the Sabertooth guild, and she will probably still come back here to do another job. Mira-nee-chan told us all how Lucy had taken a job to the town of Cerulean, and she must be getting better with her skills. I mean, no one can survive alone on the other side of Fiore. Anyway, Lucy is probably closing up her heart and dyeing her hair to represent her sadness. That's what you thought she'd do, anyway, and-"

Before Lisanna could finish that sentence, the entrance doors to the guild of Fairy Tail had opened wide. Everyone turned their heads to see that Lucy stood in the doorway with a blissful look on her face while she had been blushing a light shade of pink, and the warmth inside of her heart had caused the spell book to turn red. No one had noticed that, however, and they were focused on the fact that Lucy had been seeming so cheerful. She had been gone for a week, making everyone think that something had happened to her, but they still believed Sting's trolling newspaper to be the absolute truth.

Lucy had been thinking about the kiss that she shared with Sting while walking into the Fairy Tail guild, keeping her emotions under control as she made her way over to a table where Master Makarov was sitting with Laxus and Mavis, but the blonde mage did not let the affections in her heart end up being the words that she would say. Lucy was going to get her pink guild mark removed, in order to be free of it for when she would join the guild of Sabertooth, and then the blonde mage had simply planned to walk out while leaving her old life behind.

However, let's just say that fate had other plans for her. Before Lucy could get walk past the bar area, Natsu quickly moved in front of her to act like a barrier while he gave her a pretty angry look. Lucy's cheerful smile began to turn into a glare while the blush on her face began to fade away, showing that she now knew that a tense situation was about to come up, and the blonde mage narrowed her cocoa brown eyes as she was wondering about what Natsu wanted to tell her. Knowing how he was such a big jerk to her when she had first tried to leave for the town of Rustboro, Lucy could tell that the fire dragon slayer was definitely not pleased to see her.

"Well, look at who came crawling back to Fairy Tail. I never expected you to go far away from the guild, since I know how you're just so weak like the crybaby you are, and it's pretty rude to not even greet me or Lisanna while you walked by us. I guess that it's your petty little way of showing me how you don't want to be with me anymore, but you just love to be a traitorous bitch who teams up with those guys from Sabertooth. After how Minerva hurt you last year, Lucy, I can't believe that you'd even think of going against our guild like this. You have no respect from me." Natsu told her in a harsh tone while glaring at the blonde mage, pushing her away from him.

Lucy responded in a cold tone, chuckling a bit while she smirked before looking stern, "I find it really funny that you're harassing me about doing something behind your back, yet you and the whole guild kept me in the dark about your little relationship with Lisanna! Don't even try to call me a traitor for helping Sting and the others, Natsu, because I'll have you know that those guys are actually nice. Maybe you're just envious of how Sting was mainly the one who chased off those guys from Aqua Kyogre without destroying the museum, and that's a perfect example of how smart you aren't. You get worked up enough to act like I'd cry over your words, but you're nothing more than a cheating hypocrite who didn't have the guts to tell me about your little affair from the start. Maybe you'll eventually get more affairs, you promiscuous degenerate."

She stood her ground while not being in the mood to deal with Natsu anymore, but it looked like the blonde mage would actually have to give her dense ex-boyfriend the beating that he deserved. He had no right to insult her like that, and the fire dragon slayer also had no business judging the Sabertooth guild based on only Minerva. She looked extremely annoyed and irritated by the fire dragon slayer thinking that she was the same girl who was so saddened and could be broken down easily by hurtful actions, but Lucy was tired of being pushed around by this dense jerk.

Gray and Cana stood at a table near the area where the drama was transpiring, both mages ready to apologize for being secretive about the affair and help Lucy defend herself, but Erza faced them with a stern look in her brown eyes. She wasn't going to let them intervene right now, especially since she had caught sight of the red spell book pulsating while it was in Lucy's left hand. Steam even rose from the book, so would these spells be hot like Lucy's current anger? She narrowed her cocoa brown eyes at Natsu, determined to show that jerk how she had improved since being away from him, and she quickly opened the red spell book.

The blonde mage noticed that four spells were written in their section of the book, and the spells were written in cherry red text. The unreadable words were written in scarlet red text, and Lucy wasn't able to use these spells yet. Despite the readable words being in cherry red, an underlined sentence in the book told Lucy that she could only use these four spells for power and creativity that was sharp like an arrow. She didn't know what that meant, but Lucy smiled a bit from also knowing that each spell had its own purpose. Still, what hint was the book trying to give her? Did she have to use the spells in a certain order or in various ways?

Before Lucy would even attack with one of the spells, she pulled out one of her Golden Zodiac Gate Keys to summon a Celestial Spirit. Natsu frowned at the thought of her possibly summoning Gemini, but the fire dragon slayer was surprised to see her pull out the key of Sagittarius from the right pocket of her blue jean shorts. Natsu thought that this would not be much of a fight against an archer who used arrows, but let's just say that the book's spirits and the Celestial Spirits were learning how to work in unison with each other. After Lucy had summoned Sagittarius, she was ready to use the first spell from the red book.

"I call upon thee, the first spell, Fiery Embers!" Lucy shouted angrily while she leaped back to get some distance from Natsu, as the words in cherry red text on the pages began to glow.

This spell caused Lucy to spit out five small fireballs from her mouth, and she couldn't believe that these spells were for Fire Magic. She knew that Natsu was a fire dragon slayer, capable of eating any kind of fire that was not his own, and she looked a bit disappointed at the thought of these spells being useless against him. She saw him quickly unleash Fire Dragon's Roar, producing a spiraling beam of red fire that headed straight for Lucy, but his attack suddenly split into five different beams! They merged with Lucy's fireballs, strengthening them exponentially in power and size, prompting the fireballs to harshly strike Natsu.

Five fiery explosions occurred, and Natsu had surprisingly taken damage from Lucy's fire attacks. The spell book's elements had belonged to species that were not in the categories of a dragon or a god, so neither Natsu or Zancrow could eat Lucy's flames. That first spell had the power of taking an enemy's fire attacks and absorbing them, before multiplying the power exponentially to do some massive damage. The side effect of this spell allowed Lucy to inhale all the flames like Natsu could, and she felt a bit more powerful. (Lucy's Fire Magic belongs to the spirit of a phoenix, just so you know, and she is not a Bird Slayer.)

Not wanting to be shown up by Lucy, Natsu saw her first spell as beginner's luck. It definitely was not luck, however, and her spell book was working in her favor. The Fire Magic was certainly hurting Natsu, and he looked a bit angry about being shown up by his own element. The fire dragon slayer proceeded to use Fire Dragon's Sword Horn for the chance of striking Lucy from up close for her spells to not strike him, and Natsu engulfed his entire body in flames before he propelled himself towards Lucy at high speeds. This move could really hurt someone, and Natsu snickered confidently from seeing Lucy remain perfectly still.

Gray yelled at Lucy to get out of the way of Natsu's attack, thinking she would getting badly burnt, and the blonde mage tried to dodge at the last second. However, Natsu angrily grabbed her hair with his right hand before smashing into a wall with her! An explosion of fire occurred, the smoke clearing up fast, and people could hear Lucy screaming while her ex-boyfriend made flames engulf his fists to angrily punch her in the stomach seven times. He had made Lucy begin to burn while she was in pain, and Lucy could feel the intense heat on her skin.

Natsu proceeded to pull Lucy up by her beautiful blonde hair, and he threw her behind the bar area. The fire dragon slayer angrily glared at her while he ran over there, but what he did next was beyond cruel. Natsu picked up a large keg that was filled with alcohol, and he laughed in a heckling manner while dumping it all on Lucy. She was now covered from head to toe in brown alcohol, and Lucy screamed in fear when Natsu used Fire Dragon's Roar to let his flames mix with the alcohol in an effort to create a large explosion that would defeat Lucy for good. The large burst of flames transpired, blinding everyone's eyes, and Lucy was feeling the most pain while she was inside of it.

The blonde mage was perspiring heavily while she was in the center of the bursting flames, and her skin was now charred while she could not stand the intense heat. Lucy was really angry at Natsu for being so rude to her, criticizing her for helping out people from Sabertooth, and Lucy was panting heavily while these flames were hot like her anger. At that moment, she remembered how Shelly told her that letting her emotions take control would only result in getting defeated. Lucy also remembered how Sting had been waiting for her, cheering her on with whatever she did, and he had even given her a kiss on the lips as a way of thanking her for giving him such a sweet kiss on their first date. Not wanting to lose out to her new rival, as well as wanting to show Sting that there was no need to worry, Lucy took a deep breath while closing her eyes to create the second spell.

Everyone had looked shocked to see the copious amount of large flames that Natsu had created by the bar, but then all the flames had suddenly sunk down into what appeared to be bubbling red liquid. Natsu looked curious while taking a few steps back, and he gasped in fear while seeing this red liquid come from Lucy's charred body that was lifeless. It was not blood, so she wasn't dead. The blonde mage's body began to melt from the heat, turning into a pile of bubbling red liquid as well, and the liquid itself began to latch on to the body of Natsu. The fire dragon slayer yelled in pain while the goop was at the temperature of volcanic lava, burning his skin to give him the karma that he deserved, and six fiery explosions transpired as well! While they sent Natsu flying back against the wall, where had Lucy gone to?

Erza's brown eyes caught sight of her blonde friend rising up from a small fire on the ground, and Lucy had looked completely unharmed while her skin was now fair again. The spell that she had used was known as Flame Shell, and Lucy had created it while using Shelly's Water Clone technique as a bit of inspiration. This move allowed Lucy to have her body consumed by flames, but those flames would allow her to heal by using the heat as she would hide in a distant flame without getting hurt. Lucy could fully recover while a shell of her would be getting burned, and the liquid from that shell was capable of combustion to strike its foes.

"What in the world is going on?! Lucy, you can't use Fire Magic like that! Seriously, using that level of smarts with flames is not fair!" Natsu told her with a protesting facial expression, pointing at the brown-eyed girl while not believing that it was possible for her to use his flames in such a tactical way.

The blonde mage replied with a confident look on her face while running over to her Celestial Spirit, ready to have Sagittarius work in a combination with her flames, "It's always fair to play smart when you have a book of Molding Magic in your hands, Natsu! Besides, you shouldn't act like I cheat when you were the one who cheated on me with Lisanna! You played me for a fool, as we both play with fire right now, but you're the one who will get burned by my next move! There's someone in my life who is better than you, and he ignites my feelings to where my attraction was hot like the kiss I gave him!"

Refusing to lose against all of Lucy's fierce confidence, Natsu was about to resort to using Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade to end this fight. However, he was suddenly met with six small flames dancing in a circle around him. While Lucy had been responding to his statement about not playing fair, she had also been moving her left hand around in a circle to command some flames in the background to move near Natsu before dancing around him. The flames were also capable of ingesting any fire attacks that were used on them or their master, so Natsu was nothing more than a sitting duck right now.

Narrowing her brown eyes while putting six arrows in the bow of Sagittarius, Lucy also spat out some of her boiling red volcanic goop on them to make those metal arrows become volcanic flame arrows. This was her third spell, and it was known as Fiery Accuracy. Sagittarius looked pretty confident while pulling the bow backwards to increase the tension and striking power of his arrows, before firing them one at a time to hit each flame that danced around Natsu. The flaming arrows hit the flames with such accuracy while they had been moving fast, and the collisions resulted in six large red blasts of Fire Magic transpiring around Natsu! He screamed in intense pain from the blasts, feeling these flames to be even hotter than his own, and the fire dragon slayer fell to the ground with a hard thud.

Sagittarius told Lucy in a calm tone, as he looked proud while giving her a salute before going back to the Celestial Spirit World, "It looks like the fight is now over, Lucy. Your creative technique with my arrows just shows once again that even flames are just child's play for them."

The red smoke had cleared up quickly to reveal that Natsu was unconscious, and Lisanna ran over to his side while she looked very alarmed. The white-haired mage checked her boyfriend's pulse by placing her index and middle fingers on the inside of his wrist, and it did feel like he had a heartbeat. Natsu was alive, but he was just really knocked out with a comical facial expression. Lucy did not enjoy fighting him like that, since she had not wanted to get into drama today for a simple matter to be completed, and she could see that everyone had looks that ranged from being glad to being really surprised by what she had done.

Even if people would praise her for being so powerful, however, that did not excuse them from hiding Natsu's affair from the blonde girl. Lucy was still upset with them for doing such a thing because they thought that she was really sensitive, and Lucy may have cried about it when she was deeply in love with Natsu. However, Lucy had no more attraction to the fire dragon slayer. She felt no love towards a guy who had cheated on her in such an arrogant way, acting like he had no chance of ever getting caught, and the fact that he led her on for almost thirteen months was enough for her to make a statement to the guild.

"I know that you all think I'm so fragile to the point where you can't say a thing to me, I really thought that you all were my friends. Really, you guys followed Natsu's plan to the point where it felt like you betrayed me. I'm really hurt by how every day was full of random gossip to cover up the fact that Natsu was cheating on me, and that's why I'm leaving Fairy Tail. It's very unethical of Natsu to cheat on me, but it's also wrong for all of you to not tell me anything and lie to me. If you guys really call yourselves a guild, look out for your comrades and don't leave the doors wide open for people hiding in the blueberry bushes to hear everything." Lucy told everyone with a stern look on her face, before leaving the Fairy Tail guild in a bad mood while she walked out of the entrance doors.

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><p>While the members of the Fairy Tail guild had been looking unhappy to see Lucy leave, some of them near tears like how Cana was, nobody had known that a secret camera near the doorway had captured every single piece of video and audio. It had been set up by a spying female grunt from the guild known as Aqua Kyogre, this girl being one of the best technical experts for the organization, and she was also the same person that Shelly had made a clone out of when she had been testing Lucy's skills at the Oceanic Museum.<p>

This girl had long teal hair that was tied back in a short ponytail, and her spy attire had been composed of a blue midriff shirt with some black jeans to match while she also wore some short beaded purple bracelets on her wrists. This grunt with the task of espionage was named Marina Kasumi, and her eyes were pale green while she wore some brown flat shoes as well. They were part of Marina's disguise, and she had been watching everything from inside an air duct above the guildhall. She was glad that the camera recorded everything, since Lucy was definitely more than just a Celestial Spirit Mage.

She whispered softly into a black transceiver, glad that the guild's ceiling had a good signal to where no static could be heard, "This is Marina to Commander Shelly. The subject has left Fairy Tail for good, and she seems to be headed back to Sabertooth. I rephrase to repeat, Lucy Heartfilia is heading to Sabertooth. She is continuing to become stronger through tough battles, and you were right. She could be your biggest rival, Shelly. This girl is very creative, but let's hope that she will join us when we are legal."

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><p><strong>How was the 8th chapter? Did you like it? Sorry if it sounded bad to have Lucy leave Sting, but I wanted to get Natsu out of the way for a bit. He'll return, but not too soon. The romance between Lucy and Sting will also have more development in the next chapter, since they aren't officially boyfriend and girlfriend yet. Anyway, what will happen to Lucy's guild mark? Where shall her new insignia be stamped? Who does she finally meet up with again after saying goodbye to a very close friend? Standby for the update!<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 9: Goodbye, Magnolia! Hello, Rustboro!<strong>

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><p>After leaving the Fairy Tail guild, Lucy walked down the dirt path that led into the town of Magnolia. She had gone back to her apartment to pack up her things since she wouldn't be living in this town anymore, and Lucy knew that she had to go to Rustboro Town for the chance at receiving her guild mark from Sting to officially be a member of Sabertooth. She had wanted to see him with a happy smile on her face, showing him that their day for a date had gone great, but Lucy would have to tell him about what happened earlier in her previous guild that was known as Fairy Tail.<p>

She had given her old friends a pretty stern speech while she had parted ways with them, but Lucy could not even see them as her friends anymore. If they actually wee wanting to care about her, they would've put aside Natsu's promises for them to tell Lucy about what had been going on. The fire dragon slayer had been cheating on her with Lisanna, and Lucy knew that a real friend would've actually told her something about it. Someone who was truly her friend would not have just watched the blonde mage get played day after day by Natsu, and no one had even tried to help.

If Lucy had still been gullible while dating Natsu, then she would just continue being used by him. Luckily, that was not the case. The fact that he fought her earlier was reason enough to sever her ties to that jerk, and the fire dragon slayer had been the one to initially admit that he was cheating on her with Lisanna. It was pretty sad to see that Natsu thought so lowly of Lucy to have never even cared for her while they were dating, and he had even bought Lisanna gifts while going with her to fun places. He had never been so loving towards the blonde mage, thus showing his true colors.

Even if people in the guild had wanted to praise for Lucy for the impressive way that she took down Natsu, their cheers still would not be enough to make a real apology. They were at fault in this matter, playing a big role by sneaking around behind her back while openly telling lies to Lucy, and that really wasn't cool. Even if they thought that she would be sensitive about hearing it, would it not be the best move to tell Lucy the pure truth instead of letting her deal with false love from a cheating jerk that saw as the lesser girl of his two relationships? Really, they could've at least been nice enough to break the news to her in a gentle way.

Speaking of people that had been involved, Erza was one of the people that Lucy felt the most betrayed by. The scarlet-haired mage had been one of Lucy's best friends for a long time, making the user of the golden keys feel like she could discuss anything with her, but the trust between them had been broken. On that day when Lucy caught Natsu kissing Lisanna, she could not believe that even Erza had kept Natsu's affair a secret from her. If Erza would now be sad about the fact that Lucy departed, then it would be karma showing her that she should've been a much better friend.

While Lucy had known that she had to distance herself from most of those people, the only person who had really not been on Natsu's side was Gray. He had not seen any reason to respect Natsu's secret, since he found cheating to be very unethical, and the ice mage also found a reason to really dislike Natsu. He had pretty much started a fight with Lucy, losing to his own element, and that was clearly karma at work. Gray had also looked disappointed about the fact that Lucy had to leave, but he had also known that she would become stronger than Natsu. He had seen the power of her Fire Magic, seeing those flames burn hotter than Natsu's, and they had burned brightly with that desire to show the fire dragon slayer that Lucy was far from weak.

While she was also set on starting a new life, Lucy could not forget about informing her young friend Wendy of her departure. The two girls had been like sisters, ever since Wendy joined Fairy Tail, and parting ways like this would be kind of heartbreaking. The girls may not see each other until the Grand Magic Games or whenever a much less dramatic event comes around for the country of Fiore, but Lucy knew they would still be friends. Wendy and Carla had not been in the guild for quite a long while, since Lucy's letter to the sky dragon slayer had still remained untouched on the desk, and Lucy just thought that were out on a pretty difficult job somewhere.

Lucy had packed some casual clothes into a small black suitcase that she had, and she also made sure to pack some bathroom supplies for when she needed to bathe or do her hair. The Sabertooth guild probably had all the soap and shampoo types that Lucy had ever dreamed of, but it might not have had all the furniture in her apartment. Despite that minor setback, knowing that Sting was the master of that guild, Lucy could tell that things would begin to get better for her. She did have her keys with her, too. As a way to show loyalty to her new guild, Lucy also packed the yellow flag with the Sabertooth emblem on it.

Seeing that there was nothing left for her to do, the blonde mage slightly giggled while running out of the apartment with her spell book in her right hand while her left hand pulled the handle on her pink suitcase. She had managed to close the door behind her, though, making sure that no thieves would try to get in and be a bad surprise for the next tenant. As her cocoa brown eyes caught sight of the last boat heading out to sea, Lucy knew that 2:00 p.m. was when the last boat always left Magnolia. She did not want to run on the water again, since that might attract her friends to know that she truly was going to the rival guild, so how could Lucy reach Rustboro?

Suddenly, the blonde girl's problem was solved when she noticed that a certain blue cat with wings was flying through the air above her. This blue cat was known as Happy, the Exceed that Natsu had owned, and Happy had gone on many missions with Lucy. He had not seen her around lately, being pretty worried about the fact that Natsu had let his secret slip out, but Happy truly did feel bad for Lucy. They were really great friends, even though Happy sometimes made perverted jokes about Lucy, and she smiled softly while loudly shouting his name. Her voice got his attention, and Happy flew down to be in front of Lucy.

"Hey, Lucy! Today is a beautiful day for us to spend some time together! I haven't seen you in about ten days, and I was hoping that Natsu's secret affair with Lisanna for six months had not caused you to do anything that involved self-harm. Oh, no! I just told you the big secret! Please don't make those guys from Aqua Kyogre come to find me!" Happy told her in a cheerful manner when he had seen her while joyfully smiling, before looking scared at the fact that he let out a secret that wasn't so secret anymore.

The brown-eyed girl replied while smiling softly, knowing that this might be a bit difficult for her flying friend to hear, "I know about the secret, Happy, so there's no need to freak out. Anyway, I have to leave Magnolia behind. You know, everyone in the guild is really misjudging me. They thought that I was too sensitive like a crybaby for them to tell me about Natsu being a two-timing jerk, and I just hate how they all kept saying things behind my back while saying lies to my face. The Sabertooth guild is in the town of Rustboro, and that's where I'm headed. Please don't tell anyone, Happy."

Her departure came as a bit of a shock to the blue Exceed, but he shrugged it off when she had mentioned that people in the Fairy Tail guild were giving her a hard time. Happy could tell that Lucy's discovery of Natsu's affair with Lisanna had really caused the tension to increase, making him really wish that the fire dragon slayer had picked a much better strategy than prolonging his relationship with Lucy, and the blue Exceed felt bad for not saying anything about the affair to her. Since he wanted to find some way to make up for all of this, since Lucy deserved compensation, Happy easily lifted Lucy and her luggage off the ground to take her over the sea to reach the town of Rustboro.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, at part of a certain hideout in an unknown location... <strong>

Shelly had been in the shower room of Aqua Kyogre's hideout, using her own personal shower that was fit for a top commander like her, and the black-haired woman had been thinking about what Marina had told her a few moments earlier. Lucy Heartfilia was heading back to the guild of Sabertooth, clearly going to get her new guild mark from Sting, and Shelly could only wonder why her guild also needed to keep an eye out for the other light guilds. Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale weren't planning anything, so people would just be wasting their time. Shelly clearly knew that, but her boss was kind of paranoid.

The blue-eyed woman had secretly been observing Fairy Tail the most, however, and the people in that guild did have quite an interesting array of abilities. She had written down the strengths and weaknesses that she noticed in each person, whether it was from the cameras or the files that kept track of the jobs that each person was doing, and Shelly was really glad to have teammates who could use the Water Observance Technique like how she could also use it. That technique allowed the user to see anything they wished, and they could see everything mainly through puddles or the ocean.

As Shelly used a blue washcloth to wash her body, sighing in pleasure while she scrubbed her large rear, she could not help but smirk at the fact that Lucy Heartfilia had left her old guild to join Sabertooth. Compassion was never something that the tanned woman could really ever have, and she was glad that Lucy was smart enough to leave a cheater like Natsu behind. Not only had Marina told Shelly that Natsu got beaten down by flames, but she also told her that the fire dragon slayer was really dense when he had to deal with the topic of women.

Shelly knew that getting cheated on was a really horrible thing, and that's why she had used her Water Magic to create a move that would freeze its enemies from the inside when her lips made contact with theirs. It was not used very much, however, since Shelly liked to save it for guys that she found to be really attractive, and the flirty woman narrowed her blue eyes while remembering how he was so weak. Whatever Lucy saw in him that her want to defend him, Shelly just could not understand it. She could only say that two pathetic people deserved each other, but would Shelly say that when she and Lucy would have their rematch?

She began to wash her stomach now, scrubbing in a slow manner while feeling the warm water from the shower head land on her body, and Shelly felt the warm beads of precipitation latch on to her skin. The steam fogged up the glass door while she was in the shower, and the tanned woman continued to smirk excitedly while she remembered the fierce look in Lucy's eyes when they had first fought. Those were the eyes of someone who sought power, wanting to become much stronger, and Shelly could tell that this was going to be fun. If Lucy had discord with Natsu, interfering with the ability to control her emotions, then the conflict had to subside for a while.

"Natsu Dragneel, you very dense boy. You made quite an enemy out of Lucy, cheating on her while wanting to have an affair with Lisanna, and you never even took her feelings into consideration for one moment. You can get very hotheaded with Fire Magic, but fighting is your only good point. Based on how you treated Lucy, it looks like your bad karma shall soon begin to come. Even if Lucy has left the guild, your actions have decided either the ascending of your ego or the descent of your reputation." Shelly spoke aloud in a calm manner while still smirking evilly, knowing that those two basic outcomes could cause many complications for Natsu.

Even though Shelly had seen Lucy to be pretty weak right now, the blonde girl just would not leave her thoughts. Marina had even brought up the suggestion to make Lucy join them, but that was a pretty bad idea. It was never good to bring total tension into a person's life, and Lucy was probably feeling great joy from being with Sting. If that happiness could make Lucy fully turn on Fairy Tail, then she would become much more focused on becoming a stronger mage. Lucy would also become more busy on the other side of Fiore, making her old guild wonder where she would go. Hopefully, they would never find her.

As Shelly turned off the water to end her shower, she heard a soft knock at her door. The black-haired woman looked a bit curious while she had to wonder who could possibly be wanting to see her, and she opened the sliding glass door while stepping out of the shower. She put the aqua blue towel around her body while she walked out of the bathroom, and Shelly was standing directly across from the aqua blue door to her dorm room at the guild. (The room's description will be talked about later on in the story, so there's no need to worry.)

She looked a bit miffed while hoping that it wasn't some grunts causing problems again, and Shelly unlocked the front door to see a little girl with blue hair standing there with a large brown bag in her left hand that looked like it was from a fast food restaurant while she had a large cup of Coca-Cola in her right hand. Shelly looked a bit curious at first about what was going on, but then she smiled a bit while remembering that she had sent out a flyer that requested for someone to get her something to eat because she had been too busy with checking out files.

The little girl at the door was Wendy Marvell, the sky dragon slayer from Fairy Tail, and she was on this job with her white Exceed named Carla. Shelly had heard of this young girl, since the file on Wendy let her know that she had been evenly matched with Chelia when they had battled on the third day of the Grand Magic Games last year, and she had probably guessed that Wendy told the grunts outside at the guild's entrance about the delivery for her. Shelly had also included 8,000 jewels with the flyer beforehand, and that was because she never felt like giving tips to anyone.

"Here you go, Shelly Izumi of Aqua Kyogre. Seven large double cheeseburgers with two boxes of large fries, and an extra large Coca-Cola. I'm glad that we got this job done for you, but it's too bad that your guild is so far away from Magnolia. At least the close restaurant was worth this three-day trip. Enjoy your food, Miss Shelly." Wendy told her with a happy smile on her face while handing the food to Shelly, before walking away with Carla to find the warp panel that would take them back to the entrance of Aqua Kyogre as they heard the hideout's music playing on loop through an intercom. (It's the Aqua/Magma Hideout music from Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, just so you know.)

While Shelly quickly closed and locked the door to her room, she really could not believe that those grunts let a little girl from Fairy Tail enter into the guild's secret hideout. She would definitely have to fire them, especially if Wendy picked the wrong warp panels and ended up in a few places where unauthorized people were forbidden to enter. Running to the window of her dorm room, not even caring that her towel fell off, she could see that Wendy had been escorted out of the guild by some grunts from the research and development part of Aqua Kyogre. Shelly could tell that they were from that section because of the white lab coats, making her sigh with relief while she was glad that Wendy did not enter the snack room that had her private supply of brownies hidden from everyone else.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, at the Sabertooth guild...<strong>

After Happy had gotten Lucy to the town of Rustboro, as well as flying away after she gave him a thankful hug, Lucy entered the guild of Sabertooth with a kind smile on her face. The place smelled sweet as always, smelling like the taste of sugary mochaccinos because of Sting selecting that option from a machine that could spray various scents into the air. Every scent smelled simply wonderful to all of the members, and the great smell of the guild had worked well with the delicious taste of the food. Quite a good combination, was it not?

Lucy smiled happily while walking over to a table where Sting was sitting with Rogue, Yukino, Lector, and Frosch, so she decided to sit in the white chair next to the guy who she was attracted to. Sting's good nose had allowed him to quickly detect the scent of Lucy, and the white dragon slayer joyfully hugged his blonde girlfriend while lifting her off of the chair to hold her in his arms. Lucy blushed a light shade of pink while feeling Sting's comforting warmth, loving how he had such great muscles, and he held her in such a gentle and affectionate way.

Due to Sting not telling them what had happened while they were out on a job together, Rogue and Yukino both looked curious about what was going on. Frosch smiled a bit while guessing that Lucy was now Sting's wife, but Lector confidently smirked while telling the green Exceed about how Lucy and Sting had kissed back at Cafe Kawaii. The confident cat was the first friend that Sting had told about his very first kiss, and he gave a thumbs-up to white dragon slayer while winking at the fact that his strategy for flirting with Lucy had paid off in the biggest way.

Rogue just smiled kindly while Yukino kindly smiled at the fact that another couple was formed, and Sting had asked Lucy about how her business went with Fairy Tail. The blonde girl frowned a bit while telling him that she did not have the chance to get her guild mark removed because of Natsu interfering with her, and she had beaten him down with his own type of magic. She had now found herself able to access Fire Magic in the spell book, and its molding properties were also playing a role in why Natsu couldn't eat the flames. The fourth spell had been created by Lucy, but she had not used it because three spells was enough to defeat her jerky ex-boyfriend.

Sting chuckled a bit at the fact that Lucy defeated Natsu through what was probably a good battle, and the satisfied look in his charming blue eyes let Lector know that the newspaper trick had worked. After all, how else could Natsu have found out about Aqua Kyogre being at the Oceanic Museum? Even though he now knew that they had been stopped by Lucy, Natsu might just give the grunts a good laugh. He was a real jerk for cheating on Lucy, even making her think that stabbing herself had been a good option to make the pain go away, but Natsu was nowhere near Sting. He was not a gentlemen like the blond male, and Sting was much hotter.

As Lucy blushed happily while she was about to kiss Sting's cheek, a person shouted in a manner that sounded mixed with heckling and shock while they read the newspaper from last week, "You have got to be kidding me, Sting! What in the world were you thinking by taking on those guys from Aqua Kyogre? Man, those people are powerful enough to make my lightning fizzle out! You took on Shelly Izumi at the Oceanic Museum, and you got totally whupped by her! No wonder you came back smelling like blueberry air freshener two nights ago!"

The blonde girl turned around slowly to see that the voice belonged to Orga Nanagear, the lightning god slayer of Sabertooth, and he walked towards the table with the Memory-Make mage known as Rufus Lohr. The green-haired male was reading the newspaper, his eyes going down to the part where Sting had chased after Shelly throughout the nearby town of Celadon during the night while Lucy had been asleep in Magnolia, and the black-haired woman had distracted the blond male by throwing a blue smoke bomb at his feet. It released blue smoke, smelling like blueberry air freshener, and that would explain why he was getting derided by the reader of the media.

Sting shouted loudly while looking defensive, narrowing his blue eyes, "Be quiet, Orga! I don't see you trying to take down any infamous thieves, so give me some credit for trying! Unlike you, I actually kissed a girl! Lucy is one of us now, and I have been waiting for this moment."

Before anyone could ask what was going on, Sting pulled out the color kit and stamp with the Sabertooth guild insignia on it from the left pocket of his blue vest. He knew that this was where Lucy would become an official member of the Sabertooth guild, so he asked her to stand up. Lucy did as she was instructed to, and she smiled happily while Sting asked her about where she wanted her new guild mark to be. He also asked her about what color she wanted it to be, wondering if she would be the first person to ever have the guild mark in orange.

Lucy joyfully told him that she'd like to have the guild mark in melon green, and she would love to have it stamped on her left waist. Sting gladly smiled at the request of the girl who had given him a pretty good date today, and he stamped the Sabertooth insignia on her left waist. While Lucy cheered happily at the fact that she was now officially a member of Sabertooth, Sting had thought of something good that he could do for her tomorrow. He did not know if Lucy was the type of person who enjoyed having tons of fun, but he would make tomorrow be a good day for the kind girl. After all, Lucy deserved a day that was full of fun instead of having half of that day be a farce with fairies.

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><p><strong>How was the 9th chapter? Did you like it? Lucy has now officially joined Sabertooth, and now she is much closer to Sting! The StiCy shall build up from the attraction, and let's just say that our heroes shall meet the enemy of Shelly! This will be interesting, especially when it's the enemy of an enemy! How shall tomorrow turn out? Standby for the update!<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 10: Ways To Make Things Fun<strong>

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><p>The following day, Lucy had woken up in one of the dorm rooms at the Sabertooth guild. This was her new bedroom, as well as where she would now be living, and it looked quite different from the bedroom that Lucy had in her apartment. This room possessed a brown tiled ceiling, light green walls, light blue carpeting that covered the entire floor, and the furniture was purple in color. The large four-poster bed was a royal purple with two soft pink pillows on it, and there was also a purple rectangular table in the middle of the room as well. A purple sofa stood behind the table, and there was a wide purple dresser next to a tall bookcase near the door.<p>

The brown wooden door was across from Lucy's royal purple bed, and the blonde girl smiled happily while seeing a pink desk on the left side of the room with a pink heart-shaped chair to match it. There were two adjacent arched windows on the left side of her room, having red curtains that were moved away from the windows, and the sunlight beautifully shined into Lucy's dorm room. Really, this guild was definitely good with its ability to make the rooms look pretty stylish for every specific person. Sting had made Rufus use his Memory-Make Magic to make this room look awesome for Lucy, pretty much using another great tactic of flirting.

Lucy removed the pink comforter off of her body, and she raised her arms high above her head. She knew that Sting was a really great guy, but Lucy was very impressed with his thoughts for the design ideas. It was almost as if he had known what kinds of style would appeal to her in terms of design, but the white dragon slayer had mainly looked at how Lucy had made her outfits match with beautiful blends of colors. If she had used green, blue, and purple for her clothing, would it not look good to her in an awesome room that no one could break into?

The blonde mage got out of bed to look outside one of the arched windows, and Lucy noticed that she was on the seventh floor of the guild. That was pretty good, since Sting and the other members of his team were on this floor as well. Of course, Lucy did not know that yet. She quickly turned around to take notice of her room also having a bathroom that had a beautiful red tiled floor with some orange walls to match. She could see that the bathtub was large and elegant while it was white, and the cabinet near it had contained many bottles of body wash and shampoos for her to use.

Since Lucy did not really feel like starting off her day with a shower, knowing that someone could knock at any moment to possibly greet their new friend, and she noticed that there was now a purple plate of chocolate cookies with a cup of warm hot chocolate made for Lucy to start her day. The blonde mage looked a bit confused by the sight of this, hoping that there was not a ghost in her dorm room, but she did not know that Sting had used most of the guild's cash to afford automated technology that used the Memory-Make skills of Rufus to create breakfast for every person in their dorm room when they had woken up.

As Lucy walked over to the pyramid of fifty-five chocolate cookies, taking the first one from the top to eat it and smile while enjoying how great it tasted, she heard someone softly knock at the door. This is what she thought would happen, since it was the reason why she didn't take a shower, and Lucy had to wonder who it could be. She quickly went into the bathroom for a brush, fixing her hair nicely to look good for a possible first impression, and the brown-eyed girl ran back out to open the door. Whoever wanted to see her, it might be a good first meeting.

"Good morning, Lucy-sama. I hope that you slept well last night, and you'll truly like it here. Sting is a really wonderful guild master, and I'm glad that he got his first kiss from someone who is nice like you. Anyway, he wanted me to take you on a job with me to the town of Goldenrod. It will be a really fun job, Lucy-sama, but that's all that the flyer said. Also, you might not want to go out like that." Yukino greeted and explained to her friend in a kind tone of voice, giggling a bit while she was hiding a bit of a surprise because she was following Sting's orders.

Lucy curiously looked down at her current attire, before blushing a light shade of pink at the fact that she was in her orange lacy bra and orange lacy panties, prompting her to quickly close the door to change clothes. She did not want any pervy guys passing by to see her in her underwear, and Lucy wasted no time picking out something to wear. She picked out a red T-shirt with a scarlet red miniskirt to match, and her flat shoes were orange. Lucy styled her hair into a ponytail on the right side of her head, and she also tied her hair together with a purple ribbon.

The blonde mage opened her brown door once again to see Yukino, and she replied in a calm manner while smiling happily, "I'm ready now, Yukino. I'm so happy that Sting wants me to go with you on a job, and I'm glad that the people in this guild seem so kind. You're all so fashionable and up to date on technology, so I guess that my outfits from Magnolia are good until I can afford the clothes here. Really, I even saw a store selling many of their entire outfits for 800,000 jewels as the lowest price. High-class elegance deserves expensiveness, I guess."

As Yukino and Lucy shared a laugh over how expensive the clothes were in Rustboro, the blonde mage was really happy to notice that one of the guild members was actually talking to her and being open with her. Yukino was much better than any of her former friends from Fairy Tail, not being totally quiet about things, and she had even told Lucy that Sting was hoping she'd like this job. It would be pretty good for Lucy to go to a place that might be pretty fun, and she giggled happily while Yukino led her to the doors of a nearby golden elevator for them to descend down to the first floor to exit the Sabertooth guild.

While the girls were now headed out on a job, they did not notice that Rufus had been watching from in the air vent above the hallway. Their departure meant that the plan was proceeding nicely, and Rufus used a spell known as Memory-Make: Teleport to reach Goldenrod Town in a flash. He was happy to be helping Sting with this second date, even if the masked man thought that this would be a weird way of asking a girl out on a second date. After all, would Sting really just wait for her to reach the location of their date and say that it was a big surprise? Well, that was one way to make Lucy be amazed. Sting was a good strategist, that's for sure.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

Lisanna had just finished changing Natsu's bandages while he was in the guild's infirmary, having bandages to cover up the bruises on his face, arms, chest, and legs, and Lisanna had also let Gray check up on the fire dragon slayer. Erza had come along as well, not to check on his condition, but the scarlet-haired mage was really disappointed in Natsu for starting a fight with Lucy and saying such horrible things that he probably couldn't take back at this point. Erza also hated the fact that she had to see her best friend leave the guild because of the tension, too.

Gray had also been displeased with Natsu for causing that stupid drama with Lucy, knowing full well that she had already been saddened by him cheating on her for supposedly being inferior to Lisanna, and the ice mage could not believe that the fire dragon slayer just did not know when to keep his mouth shut. If he had not been so rude to Lucy, she would probably still be in Fairy Tail. She didn't even enjoy his presence, not wanting to see that dense idiot again, and Gray really wanted to freeze Natsu solid to really put his attitude on ice.

While the black-haired male had glared at Natsu for what happened yesterday, he also turned his glare towards Erza for not even being a real friend to Lucy. Gray had not really cared much for Natsu's affair with Lisanna in the beginning, thinking that his dense rival would one day spill the truth to his former blonde lover, but Natsu had been very lucky to slide by with his slick lies. He had even told the guild to keep quiet about the affair, but they did not have to follow his command. Erza could've said something to Lucy, but many people knew how sensitive she could be.

Even if she would get emotional from having to hear the full truth about how her boyfriend had been nothing more than a cheater, would that not be better than leading her on with fake love? Gray had always known Lucy to be a nice person, really kind and sweet, but the ice mage also knew that he was also at fault for not thinking more of Natsu's romantic affair with his mistress. He had really overlooked the possibility of Natsu spending enough time with Lisanna to know that losing her would leave him with something that he didn't value, but at least karma made that jerk lose to Lucy.

The guild hadn't exactly been in full attendance when the fight had transpired, so people like Gajeel and Wendy would have no idea that Lucy had left the Fairy Tail guild. Erza didn't want to have to make her leave, and she looked a bit saddened while knowing that she had played a role in betraying someone who was really kind. However, she began to look at the circumstances from another angle as well. If Natsu had just been honest to break up with Lucy while just telling only her that he loved Lisanna, then the Celestial Spirit Wizard would not have felt like the guild of friendship had now turned into a guild of liars.

"I still can't believe that a crybaby like Lucy managed to put me in this condition! If it was Laxus or Erza, I'd have no problem with it! I can take them on anytime, but I want to crush Lucy for roasting me with fire! I eat the stuff, for god's sake, so how the hell did I lose?! Burning her after pouring alcohol on Lucy should've meant that I won, but how did she turn the battle around on me?!" Natsu exclaimed angrily while flames began to surround his body while he breathed heavily, only to see the flames burn out quickly before he felt intense pain once again.

Gray sighed in an annoyed manner, narrowing his dark blue eyes at the fire dragon slayer, and he almost felt like making a hammer out of ice to hit Natsu on the head with it. After what he did to Lucy for Erza to make her leave Fairy Tail and get in the way of her personal business that was presumably with Makarov, was he seriously still thinking about himself and being a total idiot? He had been so physically and verbally abusive to Lucy, bullying her and calling her a traitor for helping Sabertooth do a good thing, so now he was acting like there was no blame to be put on him? On top of that, how could that hypocrite call Lucy a traitor when he had been the one to betray her?

The ice mage responded coldly, folding his arms while looking down at Natsu as he stood across from his bed with a stern glare on his face, "You really have to be kidding me, flame brain. Even after taking all that damage and being burnt badly by Lucy's flames, you still don't get it? She probably came to Fairy Tail for the removal of her guild mark, but you got in the way of that and starting disrespecting her for no reason! She does not have to say hello to the guy who cheated on her, and she has the right to not take all the bullying that you spewed at her! You caused the drama to get physical, and Lucy simply put you in your place!"

Natsu looked angered by his rival taking Lucy's side on this, defending her like she could actually be better than Lisanna in some ways, and Natsu refused to accept the loss that he had experienced. He just could not believe that Lucy used fire on metal arrows to blow up her own flames, and the fire dragon slayer could not believe that their level of damage had also burnt off his clothes. The flames and the blasts may have been enough to censor Natsu, but most of the girls did not find him hot like Gray. Stripping was the ice mage's thing, and he had actually looked good when he did it.

"Gray, you didn't see how Lucy slapped me one day for simply crossing paths with me! I don't know how she found out about me cheating on her, but I'll find the snitch who did it! I bet that it was Gajeel, since he's always hated my guts, and I'll have to take him down for spilling my secret affair to Lucy! He's always saying how I'm stupid, and maybe that guy influenced Lucy to leave the guild! When I find him, he's going down!" Natsu shouted back at the ice mage, refusing to accept any of his words, and he was just way too dense to replay his memories to see that he was responsible for Lucy finding out because he had a big mouth as well as leaving the doors wide open.

That day was something that Erza had been thinking about while she had stayed silent, and the scarlet-haired mage had actually heard the sound of someone jumping into a bush to make it rustle. The blueberry bush was the closest one to the guild's staircase, and Erza came to the possible theory that Lucy must've seen Natsu and Lisanna walking towards the guild while she had gone home to get her keys. After all, wouldn't every girl observe the strange scene of her boyfriend laughing and smiling while his arm was around another woman? This was ironically the correct theory, but Erza had only guessed it because she hid in the bushes when she saw Jellal walking into Fairy Tail with Ultear once. They weren't cheerful, but Erza had been miffed to see Ultear giggle when one of Jellal's hands rubbed her rear.

Erza responded to Natsu's words in a stern tone, feeling angry about the fact that Lucy had to leave the guild because of the fire dragon slayer and the white-haired mage having an affair, "Listen, you stupid idiot! The snitch who let Lucy know about your affair is named Natsu Dragneel, and he is you! The guild's doors were open wide for her to hear everything while she hid in the blueberry bushes, and I think that she even saw you two kiss! Now we can't even get Lucy back, and she could be anywhere by now! That means apologizing is nearly impossible for us to do, and it's all thanks to you!"

Gray and Erza were both upset with Natsu for still thinking of only himself, not even trying to see this whole thing from a different perspective that was wider than his own, and both mages left the room in silence while leaving a few heavy footsteps behind. Natsu scoffed at them for yelling at him like he was the main bad guy here, which he certainly was, and his attitude hadn't just been affecting them. It was actually putting quite a strain on the entire guild, his arrogance and recklessness making the reputations of everyone look bad because they were part of his plan, and Lisanna gulped a bit while having regret in her blue eyes.

Even though the blue-eyed girl had wanted to be in a relationship with Natsu, she did not expect Fairy Tail to implode because of the secret that they helped him keep secret for nearly seven months. Their anniversary was going to be coming up soon, the day where the happy couple would have a wonderful romance together, but it seemed like nobody would really care now. They had all witnessed Natsu start the fight with Lucy, and she had even openly scolded them for not telling them a thing. If Natsu's secret made himself look bad, the resonating words of Lucy made everyone else look really bad as well. Reps were important to uphold, and most people did not want bad gossip to be spread about them. Lisanna looked frustrated while wondering how to fix this, and she had to admit that Lucy's final move in Fairy Tail was incredibly impacting.

* * *

><p><strong>In Goldenrod Town...<strong>

Lucy and Yukino had taken the Magnet Train from Rustboro to reach the town of Goldenrod, and the blonde mage's cocoa brown eyes twinkled with delight when she saw that a large part of the city was an entire amusement park with its high-speed roller coaster, Ferris wheel, casinos, prize booths, photo booth, restaurants, cannons, and other attractions. This town was pretty lively, since the concession stands were also having people lining up to play games and win prizes. In a fun place like this, Lucy thought that Yukino's job must really be great for the day.

While she would happy to help Yukino out with whatever she had to do, Lucy still had to wonder where Sting could be. She had not seen him on her way out of the guild, nor did she see Lector or any of the other guys in his crew. Lucy hoped that they were okay, hopefully not lost in a desert somewhere, and the blonde mage was driven out of her thoughts by the fact that a black and white jack-in-the-box was bouncing towards her. She could see its handle, obviously needing to turn it, and Lucy did not know that Yukino was having such a cheerful smile on her face. She was really good at not revealing the surprise, especially since Rufus had made that jack-in-the-box as a little trick.

As Lucy squatted down to turn the handle, she looked a bit curious to see that it was playing an eerie jack-in-the-box version of some creepy music while the handle began to turn on its own. Lucy quickly backed away while seeing the box spring up into the air, and then she looked totally shocked from witnessing it explode in a white puff of smoke. Yukino kept smiling, however, and the blue-haired woman watched Sting, Rogue, Lector, and Frosch appear from the sky while they landed on their feet. Rufus walked over to them with a white chocolate cake on a plate that was in his hands, making Lucy now look really confused about what was going on here.

"Surprise, Lucy! I totally wanted to give you a great second date, since you only had half of a good day yesterday, so I planned out this strategy with the others to totally make you happy! I hope that you really like having fun in the morning because that's what this day shall be! Please tell me that you're not a hater of amusement parks, Lucy." Sting explained to her with a happy smile on his face while his blue eyes twinkled, as he did many poses of success to show his date that the great Sting Eucliffe was never one to disappoint a woman that he liked.

The blonde girl replied nicely while blushing a light shade of pink, looking very pleased and happy that her great friend had gone out of his way to throw her a surprise date, "Wow, Sting! You are such an awesome guy, and I'm glad that you want to have fun with me! You're such a thoughtful person, always making me feel so calm, and I love how you even made Rufus get my favorite flavor of cake as well! I honestly don't care if you're stalking me for info, because all of you are the greatest friends in the entire world! Thank you so much, everyone! Let's go have some fun!"

Before anyone could decide where to go, Lucy took Sting's hand in hers while she was eager to try and win prizes at a concession stand that she could see in the distance. Rufus and Orga went to one of the restaurants for some food to eat, leaving Yukino and Rogue to simply go get some ice cream from a nearby parlor. This would be a very interesting day of fun, especially since Lucy loved to be at amusement parks. She had never gone anywhere like this with Natsu, since he was just a cheating jerk, and Sting was a much better guy. This day would be filled with surprises, that's for sure.

Sting and Lucy arrived at a concession stand to try and win prizes, and all that they had to do was knock down a stack of bottles with a baseball. Sting looked pretty confident while picking up a baseball, and he actually threw it at the wall in a curved trajectory to make it bounce around the stand a few times. The man managing the stand actually ducked for cover, and that one baseball had managed to knock five stacks before it hit the soft dirt on the ground to cease its bouncing. Lucy gasped in amazement at the fact that Sting was not only cocky and smart, but he was sporty as well. If that had been an event in the Grand Magic Games, he'd definitely get ten points.

Since Sting had actually knocked down five stacks of bottles, he got to choose five prizes. The first prize that he chose was a cool item for Holder Magic, and it was a bag of white marbles. These were actually Light Balls, little marbles that could create explosive blasts of light whenever they hit something, but Sting did not know what they were. He had given them to Lucy, since she might need them someday, and Sting picked out his second prize. He had actually decided to not get anymore prizes, but he surprised Lucy by pulling the red spell book out of the right pocket of his blue vest. He also gave her the ten golden keys, making Lucy see that this date was really full of surprises.

She loved being on this nice date with Sting, finding it to be just as great as the time that they went to the cafe together, and Lucy really had to thank him for being so cool and caring. He had encouraged her to never give up, letting her know that she could eventually beat Shelly, and the blonde mage had to give Sting a nice present for being such a great guy. She gave him a quick kiss on the lips, blushing happily while wrapping her arms around his neck, but what happened next in that moment would cause their kiss to be cut short by a few seconds.

In a sudden moment, the sight of a yellow sphere going up into the air got everyone's attention. Lucy looked very curious about this, wondering who would illogically shoot up fireworks during the daytime, but her eyes saw something different than fireworks. A person stood on the highest point of the town, standing all the way up on the highest rooftop, and she smirked a little bit while a yellow aura began to surround her body. She moved her hands in a psychic manner, watching the yellow beams explode in the sky, and they exploded into numerous yellow meteors that would come down to the ground.

Lucy's eyes widened in shock at the fact that this person used such a reckless technique, probably not knowing that they could hurt people with this if those meteors were real, but she looked even more appalled to see the person look down towards her while putting her hands together. This caused some of the meteors to now go straight towards Lucy, honing in on her, but Sting used his Holy Ray attack to cancel them out. Many miniature yellow blasts of energy transpired, and Sting had to wonder about who could be attacking Lucy. The blonde girl knew that Laxus couldn't use a move like that, so who could it be?

"I've finally found it. Little girl, I want you to hand over that red book right now. If you don't do as I say, then you're going to see how electrifying my magic can be. I can even make blazes with my lightning, and the fires of my guild will burn you to a crisp. It will be a great pleasure to vanquish you, Lucy Heartfilia, and my name is Courtney Kagari from the guild known as Magma Groudon." A female voice explained in a brash manner, as they seemed to be jumping down from somewhere to meet the blonde mage. This day of fun had definitely turned into a day of drama once again, and Lucy growled in frustration while wanting to know who would attack her.

The yellow smoke cleared up quickly to let Lucy see that her opponent was wearing a red hoodie with horns on it, and this hooded outfit was long enough to be like her T-shirt as well. She had her stomach exposed, and this woman wore red boots that reached up to her knees. She had possibly known about Lucy's name through the files that some guilds had on Fairy Tail, keeping an eye on her as well, but what in the world did she want with the red book? It was certainly not a lost item, but this book seemed very valuable if somebody had been searching for it. This woman had violet hair and brown eyes as well, making Lucy really wonder who she was.

Lucy asked Sting about who this woman could possibly be, and the white dragon slayer looked stern while letting her know that the Balam Alliance was merely the main focus of the Magic Council. He let her know that Magma Groudon was the villainous team that opposed Aqua Kyogre, and these guys were experts with pyrotechnics. They also specialized in creating Fire Magic, making Lucy groan at the fact that she did not want to fight two flaming jerks in a row. Sting also knew that Lucy wanted to have fun on this day, and he knew that they couldn't fight recklessly to risk destroying the town. Since Magma Groudon was in Fiore, Sting smirked a bit while having a bit of a plan.

He let Courtney know that she could have the red book, but there was one condition. Since they were in such a beautiful town like this, not wanting it to be ruined, Sting let the opponent know that Lucy challenged her to the rules of the Grand Fiore League. The rules stated that relentless attacks were forbidden, especially if they were capable of killing any competitor in a match, and the rules for this battle made it be a five-on-five battle of spells. If a spell is broken through, the opposing spell wins that round. If a move is used and it misses, then that also counts as a loss for that round. The last rule stated that a draw will occur in a round, if the two spells cancel each other out, and Sting moved to the side while standing in the middle of the distance between both girls. Lucy and Courtney both stepped back a few feet to obey the rules, and Sting announced for the Contest Battle to begin. Since it was turn-based, Sting smartly let the antagonist go first to let Lucy see what she could do.

Narrowing her eyes, Courtney used a simple spell known as Lightning Beam to start things off. She fired a yellow beam from the index finger of her left hand, but Lucy dodged it while opening the red spell book. She used the fourth move known as Fire Trick. It caused a cherry red sphere of energy to be fired from Lucy's mouth, and the sphere bounced when it hit the ground and headed towards Courtney while bouncing in a zigzag motion. The collision of the two spells caused a miniature golden blast to occur, while six fiery explosions transpired as a result of the sphere bouncing six times to reach its opponent. Each explosion seemed to be more powerful and louder than the last, and Lucy's larger attack had won that round.

In the second round, the purple-haired villain had simply moved at lightning speed to start moving incredibly fast. She jumped high into the air, before spinning rapidly while she unleashed a much larger beam of electricity from her mouth. This attack was known as Lightning Pierce, and it could clearly pierce through anything. Lucy had tried to counter it with the fifth spell known as Fiery Punch, but even her left fist engulfed in flames was not enough to stop the beam when the two attacks had collided. Lucy had been pushed backwards, before the beam of lightning struck her directly with immense power! It sent the blonde mage flying back against the wall, and Lucy slid to the ground before standing up again.

"Man, that was a pretty strong attack. This girl has got skills, and it looks like she can use electricity as her type of magic. I don't know what she wants with my book, but I'm not handing it over to her." Lucy said aloud while looking fierce, knowing that she would have to use a few new special moves in these last three rounds while she ran back to where she was originally standing.

Courtney laughed evilly while she was still up in the air, and that gave Lucy an idea. She noticed that her opponent smirked while spinning around in midair while she descended to the ground, and this spell was known as Drilling Shock. Much to everyone's surprise, though, Lucy countered that spell with a small fireball known as Saliva Flame. This move made Lucy spit out a ball of fire, and it landed on her drilling opponent. Nothing seemed to happen at first, until Courtney started screaming from feeling her lightning now become actual flames that reached the temperature of boiling hot magma. She immediately dispelled the lightning move, something that got rid of the flames as well, and Lucy's move could convert anything other than fire into fire when necessary. Quite a good conversion spell, right?

With only two moves left for both sides, the antagonist looked a bit frustrated while charged up a large ball of electricity in her hands. This was known as Electric Blast, and Courtney threw the yellow sphere at Lucy. However, the blonde mage suddenly began to spin around fast to create a large twister of red flames around herself. Courtney's attack made contact with the twister, trying to push through it, only to be absorbed at be reflected back at her in the form of numerous fiery drills. They all struck her head-on, creating many red blasts of fiery energy, and Sting could tell that his plan had definitely been working.

Only one round was left now, both sides having dished out some fierce attacks, but Courtney could tell that there was something interesting about Lucy. She used the spells in somewhat unorthodox ways, being a bit unusual, and the purple-haired woman ultimately decided to end this battle by firing a spiraling beam of electricity at Lucy. This beam grew extremely large, absorbing most of the electricity from a nearby arcade, but Lucy quickly used the Saliva Flame spell again. She watched the entire attack turn into a spiraling beam of flames, and everyone looked surprised to see Lucy inhale the entire move. Since Courtney's attack had technically missed, Lucy won the match.

"Well, I guess that's it. Due to your rules, I will leave you with that red book. Lucy Heartfilia of Fairy Tail, you really surprised me today. I thought that you'd be using your keys, but it looks like the red book really helped you out. You are pretty strong, so I'll tell you about myself. I am Courtney Kagari, a top commander in Magma Groudon, and it looks like this lightning is going to be worthless now. Even my worst enemy named Shelly could probably fizzle it out." The supposed antagonist had explained in a calm manner, disappointed in the fact that she was weak.

Lucy replied in a pretty shocked manner, not expecting to hear the name of her new rival, "You're an enemy of Shelly? No way! She's my rival now, and I'll show her what it means to deride me like how she did at the Oceanic Museum! My Fire Magic will take her down, Courtney! You'll see!" (The reason that Shelly is Lucy's rival is mainly because I plan to get the Alpha Sapphire version of the Hoenn remakes, and any of you Pokemon-loving viewers know that Team Magma were more like your neutral allies in the original Pokemon Sapphire.)

Since this fight had really no meaning to it, since the girls were technically allies for now, Courtney vanished in a flash of lightning to leave the scene. Lucy and Sting were both stunned to see her disappear like that, but they were both glad that the fight was short. That gave them more time to have fun together, enjoying each other's company, and the growling of Lucy's stomach made Sting chuckle a bit while guessing that those flames she ate would come out in the form of flatulence. They surprisingly came out in the form of a large belch that shocked everyone, and Lucy blushed pink while looking embarrassed.

Knowing that sh was really hungry, Sting ran off with Lucy to get that white chocolate cake from Rufus. It had surprisingly appeared in his hands, as Rufus also took the light balls from Lucy while him and Orga were watching them through the restaurant window, and Sting was delighted to know that the cake was now here. He used a thin white beam of light to split the cake in half, taking one half of the delicious cake off the plate, and Lucy simply ate the other half of it. While Rufus discovered that the Light Balls were actually just chocolate fudge balls painted white for a scam, Lucy smiled happily while she walked around town beside Sting.

Not only would every day be great with him, but Lucy had joy in her brown eyes while she now found herself in a guild that truly knew the meaning of friendship. Yukino and the others had been so nice to help Sting with this surprise, and the blonde mage knew that things were now getting better for her. Since Natsu wouldn't be bothering her anymore, Lucy could now focus on the romance that she would build up with Sting. He was such a good person, wanting to plan a great day for Lucy, and she rested her head on his shoulder while knowing that Sting was the guy who shined light into her life.

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><p><strong>How was the 10th chapter? Did you like it? Sorry if there wasn't enough StiCy, but I planned to save the rest for later chapters. Lucy will end up having that lightning, but she won't receive it in the usual way. There will also be NaLi, and that will have its bumps in the relationship. Anyway, will Wendy find Lucy's letter? Will Lucy get seen by somebody? Standby for the update!<strong>


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 11: Revelations and Risky Moves<strong>

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><p>The amusement park had been really fun for Lucy, making her have a really great day with Sting, and she had really loved being around the white dragon slayer. Sting had gotten Lucy a large stack of blue cotton candy, and she ate the delicious treat. The cotton candy had tasted incredibly sweet, but it was also sticky enough to stay on the face of the blonde mage. She had blushed a light shade of pink from seeing Sting smirk a bit while he gently licked it off her cheeks, and Lucy was happy to be around such a great guy. He had such a gentle touch, and it felt so caring.<p>

Every day with Sting had been mostly good, aside from the twenty minutes where Lucy had gone to Fairy Tail to get her guild mark removed, and Lucy really been liking the blond male. He had always made her feel so calm when she had looked into his charming blue eyes, and Lucy blushed happily when she would lose herself in her thoughts. Sting was such a hot guy as well, having such great muscles that made Lucy love how strong he looked, and her heart was always beating with a joyous feeling in her chest. It felt so warm and good, and it was also very sweet.

Sting and Lucy were now checking out the golden request board to find a decent job that they could do today, but there was not really anything leaping out at them. Some criminals had been less active, ever since Shelly Izumi and her gang of powerful thieves had been much more busy with robberies around Fiore, and not even Jellal was capable of capturing those fiends. They had always slipped past his fingers while they had turned into water to escape, and that sure made them quite slick. Since it was impossible to physically restrain water, how could those guys be caught?

Even though she had been having fun with Sting yesterday, Lucy also looked determined to protect him from Shelly. Despite the fact that the blond mage was not officially her boyfriend, Lucy still loved Sting enough to not let any kind of competition get in her way. While he had been making flirty moves on her, she had also been making flirty moves to make him stay by her side. They had even shared an ice cream cone while licking opposite sides of the ice cream, and they had eventually kissed softly. Ice cream was definitely good for romance, right?

While her cocoa brown eyes had kept checking some of the jobs on the request board for anything that would actually be a good job to do for the day, Lucy still could not believe that she had ran into one of Shelly's enemies. If Courtney had some info on Shelly, shouldn't Lucy have asked for it? The blonde mage berated herself a bit for making that unwise mistake, but then she also realized that dealing with a few of her rival's spells was actually like gathering information. If she got to know Shelly's moves, then creating ways to counter them would be great.

"Sting, I'm so glad that we had so much fun at the amusement park. I really love being around you because you're such an awesome guy, and that jack-in-the box really surprised me. Also, you're a really good planner. I didn't even really get to thank you for making me and Courtney have that unusual battle without harming the city, Sting." Lucy told him with a happy smile on her face, resting her head on his right shoulder while they were almost finished with their task of checking out the jobs on the request board.

The white dragon slayer replied in a calm tone, smirking at the blonde girl beside him while his charming blue eyes were gazing at her, "You're very welcome, Lucy. I just figured that you needed a day of fun to relieve yourself from dealing with a dense guy like Natsu, and I'm really glad that you enjoyed every minute of our fun. Things may have been harsh for you last week while you were in Fairy Tail, but you'll soon see that fate will turn it around. Now you're in Sabertooth, my guild of coolness, and you'll see that things will go uphill from here."

His confident and positive attitude had been one of the major things that made Lucy attracted to him, and Sting's cocky grin had also looked quite amazing. Lucy had never seen a smile that looked so white and pure, his shiny teeth glowing with warmth like his White Dragon Slayer Magic, and Sting had truly known how to be charming to a woman. His charms were so great to Lucy, sometimes even putting her in a trance of love with him, and Lucy was really enjoying his company. Even though it was her second day in Sabertooth, Lucy could already tell that she would truly love it here.

This guild was definitely much cleaner than Fairy Tail, not having rowdy brawls that would get out of control, and it was also much more advanced. The self-serving bar could really give anyone anything that they wanted at any moment, having so many delicious things for everyone to eat, and the fashion in Rustboro had been far ahead of the clothes worn by people in Magnolia. Lucy had worn a pink beret on her head while wearing some pink sunglasses, and they went well with her brown midriff shirt. She also wore some blue jean shorts today, and her flat shoes were light blue.

While Lucy was looking fashionable and having fun, as her and Sting went to go eat their breakfast for the morning at a table where Lector was sitting with Rogue, how had Fairy Tail been doing without the blonde mage? Were they still planning to celebrate the seven-month anniversary of Natsu and Lisanna, or would Lucy's departure result in something that even she could not have seen coming? Lucy was happy to be in Sabertooth, not telling any of the fairies that she was headed there, and her old friends must've been having quite a happy time with Natsu around.

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><p><strong>At the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

Natsu had managed to heal quite slightly from the injuries that he had gotten from his fight with Lucy, but the fire dragon slayer also refused to just stay in bed. He had gone from the infirmary to the guildhall for Cana to make him some breakfast while Mira had been out on a job with Elfman, and the pink-haired male heard his stomach growl loudly to signal that he really did need some food. While Natsu had desired food, let's just say that he would also be getting a side order of something that he really would not want. What could it be?

He walked straight into the guildhall to see people giving him very harsh looks, hardly liking how he had been the main cause of Lucy leaving Fairy Tail, and no one had really seen this coming. They had all thought that Lucy would run out of the guild crying, possibly even throwing a temper tantrum about the fact that the fire dragon slayer had liked Lisanna more than her, and no one had expected her to leave the first guild to accept her. Natsu even wondered if Lucy would go crazy over him, maybe trying to kill herself, but he was glad about that scenario not happening. After all, wouldn't he be held responsible for her death?

Also, Natsu did not want to lose any of his time with Lisanna. He had still been buying her many expensive gifts, kissing her on the lips to show her that he really was in love with her, and Natsu still cared for her. He had not seen her yet, wondering where she could have gone to, and he also did not see Juvia as well. Natsu looked a bit frustrated while he knew that Lisanna had clearly gone out on a job, but why would she go out somewhere without telling him? Could this also be a part of the karma that Natsu deserved for cheating on Lucy?

The pink-haired male looked a bit happy while going over to the bar for some breakfast from Cana, hoping that filling his stomach would make his worries be eased up, but he looked surprised to see that someone else was having the role of barmaid today. The job had now gone to Marina Kasumi, the grunt from Aqua Kyogre who was really good at espionage, and she smiled happily while knowing that the grunts disguised as mages in Sabertooth would be keeping an eye on Lucy Heartfilia. She had just been following the orders from Shelly, knowing that she was now rivals with Lucy, and the teal-haired girl would also have to take breakfast orders from the fairies as well.

Marina had never liked Juvia, though, seeing the blue-haired woman to possibly be a real hazard to Aqua Kyogre if she ever joined up with them. Juvia had been talking about how cool it would be to have the chance at becoming a member of Aqua Kyogre, despite not even knowing about what could go on in that organization, and Marina could only sigh with relief at the fact that the Rain Woman was out on a job with Lisanna. It gave her a great feeling of peace while she was still instructed to stay in this rowdy guild, but the person who she met next could ruin anyone's day.

"Hey, barmaid! Can you make me a plate of breakfast? I'm really starving, and my stomach won't stop growling!" Natsu shouted loudly while not knowing who this person was, looking grumpy as he sat down on one of the bar stools because of how his day was becoming filled with surprises.

She replied in a somewhat irritated manner while looking stern, narrowing her green eyes at the way that he spoke to her, "You really have no manners, Natsu Dragneel. I could take your request for you, make you such a delicious breakfast to enjoy, but there would be no fun in that. You're just not a nice person at all, based on how you treated Lucy like she was utter garbage, and I really doubt that you'd help anybody. You made the entire guild shun Lucy in such a harsh way, just to protect yourself, and look at the situation now. You have no one to shun, meaning that you'll get axed next."

Natsu did not believe her words at first, but he had turned around to see people giving him mean looks for nearly taking Lucy's life in the fight that they had. Her parting words had definitely left quite an impact on the guild, meaning that no one would really help Natsu and Lisanna celebrate their anniversary, and it was actually their own fault. They had been cocky enough to assume that Lucy would never find out about their little love affair, hoping that the guild would continue to keep it a secret, but everyone had shared the same thing. It was called guilt, but Natsu probably lacked that.

Marina had been smart enough to say that karma would get Natsu, possibly even making people kick him out of the guild, and the fire dragon slayer did not want that to happen. He did not want to be axed from the guild, needing to stay here for his blue-eyed girlfriend, but Marina let him know that what he did to Lucy would cause Lisanna to start looking at him in a different light. She would eventually begin to hate him for what he did to Lucy because it was really hurtful how he had tried to kill her, and Marina smirked a bit while telling Natsu that he had to find some way to fix this.

The fire dragon slayer did not exactly want to try and fix things with Lucy, but he had the idea of using that to make Lisanna become really happy. If she would be satisfied with a guild that had no conflicts, what worries could there be? As he received his plate of chocolate waffles from Marina, topped with double chocolate fudge, the fire dragon slayer widened his eyes in shock from seeing her top off the stack of five waffles with some whip cream. Natsu was not allergic to whip cream, but he noticed that Marina had gotten a large spoonful of it for his waffles. She had managed to get most of the cream on them, but some of the cream remained on the spoon.

Natsu had blown a bit of fire at his waffles to get them crispy and delicious, but he had also blown hard enough to make the whip cream get all over Marina's blue midriff shirt. She sighed in annoyed manner while taking it off in front of Natsu, making him be distracted from his waffles, and he saw a very glorious sight. He had now seen Marina's blue bra holding her ample mounds in their constraints, and they were large like Shelly's. Natsu couldn't even touch his waffles now, seeing Marina take her hair out of the ponytail while she jiggled them in front of his face, and his nose could smell her blackberry perfume. It smelled really sweet, and the other guild members turned to notice that Natsu was giggling excitedly. Whatever he was doing now, it would end badly for him.

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><p><strong>Elsewhere...<strong>

Wendy and Carla had been on their way to the Fairy Tail guild, but they had decided to check up on Lucy before anything else was to be done. The duo had received a large basket of chocolate cookies as a reward from some of the grunts who were glad that Wendy did the job of delivering food to the guild of Aqua Kyogre where Shelly had resided, and Wendy thought that it would be nice to share these cookies with Lucy. She hadn't seen the blonde mage in quite a while, and they also hadn't been talking much. That certainly wasn't good for any kind of friendship, right?

She had stopped by Lucy's apartment to give her the sweets that would probably cheer her up, and Wendy smiled a bit as she softly knocked on the door. At first, there was no response. Could Lucy be busy showering or something? It wasn't like her to not give any kind of loud response to let someone know that she was in the apartment, and Wendy knew that Lucy would definitely love to have her over for anything. The blonde mage was always friendly to her, being like the nicest sister ever, and the girls would always help each other out.

The young sky dragon slayer still heard no response, and she knocked on the door once again. Where in the world could Lucy be? Wendy was beginning to look a bit worried, and Carla also looked concerned. They knew that Lucy would at least leave a note or a sign that she was out somewhere, and then the girls heard the sounds of a certain blue Exceed eating something from within the apartment. The window had also been opened up, prompting Wendy and Carla to go inside. It was fitting to find a window of opportunity, right? (It's a somewhat obvious pun, I know.)

They went inside to find that the lights were on, clearly having been turned on by someone, and Happy sat on the couch while he ate a chocolate and cherry-layered cream cake that Lucy had left behind in the fridge. He was joyfully eating the dessert, either trying to cheer himself up or not have a care in the world, and Happy's noisy eating had made Wendy and Carla look over the couch to see him enjoying the Black Forest gateau. They were both a bit shocked to see that he had gone through Lucy's fridge while she wasn't home, but it wasn't even her home anymore. (That's the name of the delicious cake, if you did not know that.)

Wendy had been looking around for Lucy, the young sky dragon slayer's brown eyes trying to find some sign of the Celestial Spirit Wizard being around here, but even her nose had failed to pick up on Lucy's scent in what used to be her apartment. It was almost like the scent of the blonde mage was now far away, which it was, and Wendy really had to wonder about where Lucy could have gone. She knew that Natsu and Happy usually came into her apartment when she was here, but it seemed like she wasn't home. If she wasn't here, then why in the world was Happy here?

"Breaking into Lucy's house when she is away just tells me that you really lack manners, Happy!" Carla told him in a scolding manner, having a reproving look on her face while she flew on to Wendy's head.

The blue Exceed became a bit startled, flying up into the air to see Carla and Wendy, and he quickly tried to come up with an excuse for eating the cake from Lucy's fridge. At that moment, he also remembered that it wasn't Lucy's fridge anymore. This wasn't even her residence anymore, since she had let Happy know that she was leaving the Fairy Tail guild to go and begin a new life somewhere else, and he looked a bit disappointed to be in front of Wendy and Carla right now. How could he break this news to them, knowing that Lucy was no longer in this town?

After all, they hadn't heard about what happened yesterday between Lucy and Natsu. Happy knew that the Fairy Tail guild now had enough tension and sadness, and he didn't want to bring more to his friends. He couldn't tell them that he had helped Lucy fly all the way to the town of Rustboro, and he also could not tell them that she left the guild because of Natsu treating her so horribly. Nobody else needed to deal with all the stress, and the story would really be better if it was heard from Lucy's point of view. She experienced the whole story, after all.

Happy thought that the secret was perfectly safe between them, but he just had to tempt fate. He had gone into Lucy's apartment with the intent on getting some food, but he hadn't exactly checked out his other surroundings. Lucy had left a note on her desk, addressing it to Wendy, and the little azure-haired girl took notice of what the blue Exceed was looking at. This note probably contained some great information for Wendy, having been written earlier than the time that it was meant for, and she wondered what Lucy wanted to tell her.

After walking over to the desk with curiosity in her brown eyes, Wendy picked up the note and read aloud in a calm tone, "Dear Wendy, this is your friend Lucy. By the time you have found this note, I will have left for the town of Rudtboro to begin my new life. I want to be free from the drama that Natsu is causing me, and a fresh start will help me do that. We must part ways for now, but I hope to see you again at the Grand Magic Games or any event that makes our paths cross. Be good, ok? Your friend forever, Lucy."

At that moment, Wendy widened her eyes in shock at the revelations in Lucy's letter. Not only had she left Fairy Tail, but Lucy had also left the town of Magnolia. She was now in Rustboro Town, the place where Sabertooth resided, and Wendy knew that those people were the rivals of Fairy Tail. The Sabertooth guild used to be the strongest guild in Fiore, but then Fairy Tail took that title away from them in the Grand Magic Games of X791. If Lucy was there, it wouldn't hurt to just pay her a visit. Wendy was her friend, after all.

The maiden of the sky ran out of Lucy's apartment with Happy and Carla flying right behind her, and Wendy really wanted to see Lucy again. She wanted to make sure that Lucy was okay after going through what Natsu had done to her, and Wendy knew that Lucy would eventually be strong enough to beat him. She kept running down to the harbor at a quick pace, ready to have Carla fly her all the way across the sea to Rustboro Town, and Wendy had also brought the large wooden basket of chocolate chip cookies for Lucy to enjoy some of them.

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><p><strong>Back at the Sabertooth guild...<strong>

Lucy had been eating her plate of chocolate waffles that were topped with delectable hot fudge, and she had also put some delicious whip cream on them for the prospect of having that great amount of sweetness on her lips. This was certainly a very nice breakfast that she had been enjoying with Sting and the others, making her smile happily about this guild having so many good points to it. Sabertooth was so much more advanced than Fairy Tail, despite not winning the Grand Magic Games last year, and many people found Sting to be a much better master than Jiemma.

He had always made the guild be very enjoyable for everyone, not starting pointless brawls that would just leave the whole guild in ruins, and Sting was also very popular in Rustboro. Whenever he would be walking around town with Lucy, people would always ask to take pictures with the heroic duo. They were pretty famous for taking on Shelly Izumi from Aqua Kyogre, and many people had once thought that Shelly was unbeatable. Lucy had certainly debunked their thoughts by almost killing her when they had first fought, but Shelly had only been holding back.

Now that Lucy and Sting were having this quiet morning without any jobs to do, what could possibly happen later on in the day? Surely there would be good jobs somewhere, but where in the world could they be? The two mages had even asked Rogue and Yukino if they had any work to do today, but neither of them planned to go on any quests today. It's not like Sting and Lucy could just go on long journeys to faraway places without jobs to do, otherwise it would be a real waste of their time. Since there was not much to do today, could even the littlest thing shake things up a bit?

Lucy had been looking into Sting's calm blue eyes while they sat across from each other at the table, making her fantasize about the white dragon slayer being seen shirtless like how he was at the hot spring, and the brown-eyed girl sighed happily while her eyes were focused on her boyfriend's muscles. His biceps looked so good, like he truly worked out every day, and his spiky blond hair made Lucy like him even more. She liked how Sting kept his hair so neat, managing it greatly, and he had also showed off a few secrets about this side of Fiore to Lucy as well.

When they had gone to a place known as Lavender Town, a place where it was somewhat eerie with a tower that was home to the spirits of dead magic, Lucy had only liked the fact that purple cookies were being made there. They did not exactly have a haunting flavor, but they were chocolate on the inside and outside while they were only covered in purple icing. Lucy had seen a few people with dead eyes, however, and they had seemed to talk with her in a ghostly manner. Sting had not noticed anything weird about them, though, except for when they vanished into thin air. It looked like even the great Sting Eucliffe might need Ghostbusters, right? (Just a little joke for Halloween.)

Before Lucy could ask Sting about what they would do today, though, Rufus came in through the Sabertooth guild's entrance doors at quite a fast pace. Lucy had not even seen the masked man run over to their table, his high speed helped him be there in a flash. Lucy smiled softly as she saw Rufus adjusting his red hat, an envelope with her name on it in his left hand, and there was curiosity in her cocoa brown eyes while she wondered about who could have sent her a letter. If it was Natsu trying to rant at her, Lucy would definitely give him a harsh response.

After gently taking the mail from the hand of Rufus, the fashionable girl opened the envelope to read it aloud in a sweet tone, "Hello, Lucy Heartfilia. I hope that you are doing well, after the battle we had yesterday. I know that you share the same goal as me, and that is to take down Shelly. She is very strong with her magic, and you probably have not seen much of what she can actually do. As your reward for beating me in our battle, I shall give you this Lightning Magic. While fire focuses on the attack power, lightning is centered around speed. Use it well, and it's a power you'll need. Your friend in Magma Groudon, Courtney Kagari."

The white piece of paper in her hands began to crackle with electricity surrounding it, yellow electricity that looked pretty powerful, and Lucy let the paper land on her red spell book. The lightning began to surround the book, merging with it as it went into the fourth section of pages, and the color of the book had turned yellow! It began to shine brightly, blinding the eyes of everyone at the table, and even other people like Dobengal had looked at the bright light to see what was going on. Lucy could see eight spells flashing by fast in her mind, getting images of them, and this magic was clearly communicating with her.

Sting asked Lucy in a surprised manner, before explaining what he realized while seeing the light fade away quickly, "What in the world was that about? Lucy, why do you keep on gaining magic in weird ways? I've noticed that. First, you got Water Magic from Shelly's attack touching the book. Next, you got Fire Magic from the heat in our first kiss. Then, you got Lightning Magic from the electricity on a paper. In other words, that book is responding to when the magic or desire is strong enough for it to join you. On top of that, your spirits make good combos with the spells. You're a Celestial Caster Wizard!"

This revelation made Lucy gasp in awe, not having ever heard of such a term for a wizard, and she had noticed that the spells in this book were a bit freaky. She had actually tested out the eighth spell yesterday while being near Mt. Chimney with Sting, after they left the amusement park, and the eighth spell was known as Fiery Final. This move caused Lucy to shoot out a large vortex of fire into the air, before seeing it come down in the form of an even larger vortex that had heat from the sun itself. The vortex crashed into the ground, causing an extremely powerful red blast of Fire Magic to transpire, and most of the ground had been burnt up to the point where it was gooey like walking on marshmallows.

As Lucy was now eating her waffles, again tasting the delicious golden treat with sweet syrup added, the guild's entrance doors suddenly opened up to reveal a familiar face to her. She turned her head to see that Wendy Marvell had come to the Sabertooth guild, and she was not alone at all. Happy had arrived at the guild with Carla, still trying to flirt with the cat that he loved the most, and Lector smirked a bit while flying towards Carla as he pushed Happy out of the way. Even cats could have little rivalries, you know.

"Lucy-san! Your letter was right! You're here!" Wendy exclaimed happily, delighted to see her best friend once again.

She replied kindly while running to give Wendy a big hug, "It's been such a long time, Wendy! I haven't seen you in a whole month! Now that you're here, things are looking a bit less boring! Let's go have an adventure!"

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 11? Sorry about not updating today. I was far too busy. Anyway, Lucy and Wendy are reunited! Also, Sting and Lucy are improving their chemistry a bit! This lightning is sure to make things better, especially when Lucy and her rival meet up again! Will Lucy make some good stuff with her new magic? What does Shelly do to really piss off Lucy? How will Wendy react to this tension? Standby for the update!<strong>


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 12: The Second Battle, The Secret Plan<strong>

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><p>Wendy's arrival to the guild of Sabertooth had certainly been a surprise to Lucy, but she was happy to see her young friend from Fairy Tail show up for a visit while Happy and Carla had accompanied her. The two girls did have some catching up to do, having not seen each other in an entire month, and Lucy had also hoped that Wendy would be okay with her decision to join Sabertooth. She obviously would not be coming back to her old guild anytime soon, due to Natsu being so rude to her, but what choice did Lucy have?<p>

Sting had also narrowed his blue eyes at the young sky dragon slayer, hoping this wasn't some setup by Natsu to gain information about the rival guild, and Wendy smiled slightly while telling him that she truly was only here to check on her friend. Wendy had missed Lucy, and she had also heard about the drama from Happy. Natsu had been causing many problems in the Fairy Tail guild, and Wendy could clearly see why Lucy had joined another guild. Her new life seemed to be going pretty well, even though this was her second official day in Sabertooth.

Lucy had gotten a plate of waffles for Wendy to eat, as the blue-haired girl pulled up a chair to have a place at the table, and she also informed her friend about the new spell book that she had received from Heidi. It really made both girls curious, wondering why Lucy was the destined person for the book of many strange spells, and Lucy easily managed to understand the words in yellow text on some of the pages. A few spells appeared to have been written, most likely as a sign that the book was trying to tell Lucy something, but she refused to read it aloud. Even though the text had been written, Lucy still had to create the images.

After all, even the first spell of Fire Magic had proven to be pretty dangerous against a fire dragon slayer like Natsu. This new type of magic, presumably the Lightning Magic that Lucy had gained from the envelope after winning her first contest battle against Courtney, could be pretty deadly. She didn't want to accidentally blow up the entire Sabertooth guild with her weakest spell of Lightning Magic, and showing too much strength on the first day of the upcoming Grand Magic Games would probably make her seem arrogant in the eyes of the other mages who would not know what was going on while they would compete against her.

"There's no need to worry about a thing, Lucy. I'm going to be your opponent today, and consider this as your first fight in the guild of Sabertooth. Just because I like you, I won't go easy on you. After all, fighting at a higher difficulty will actually help you get better in the long run. Besides, if you ever run into Minerva again, I can bet that you might want to try and beat her down to get some payback for what she did to you last year in the Naval Battle." The white dragon slayer explained to her in a calm tone, still looking cocky at the thrill of getting to experience this new magic firsthand.

She had to test out these new moves in a safe location, also hoping that the place would have the conditions met for Lightning Magic to work, but where in the world could Lucy go without causing much damage? She didn't want to test them out on a beach or in a park, since innocent people might get badly hurt, and she had a bit of frustration in her cocoa brown eyes while explaining her dilemma to her new friends. Orga smirked arrogantly while wanting to have a battle of lightning against lightning, but Sting stepped in with a cocky grin as he chuckled a bit.

Lucy replied happily while eating her chocolate waffles that were covered in hot fudge and whip cream, her cocoa brown eyes beginning to twinkle with the joy of testing out these new spells, "You won't regret having me in your guild, Sting! I'm going to come at you with everything that I've got today! Well, only the Lightning Magic. This book has many rules, and you've seen how conditional it can be at times. This Lightning Magic is mostly used for speed, as Courtney stated in the letter that she sent to the guild, so I have to strike strong while moving fast."

As she sat back down, Lucy could see Sting looking like he was definitely in the mood for this. He wanted to see how much strength she had, but he wouldn't be a rude jerk about it like how Natsu had been. He would be training with her, assisting her in getting better, and Sting also wanted to see how strong he had gotten as well. After all, the girl that he loved had managed to beat the dragon slayer who was considered to be his greatest rival. Sting didn't want to get shown up by either of them, especially since he was now a guild master.

He had also informed Lucy that the Grand Magic Games would be transpiring in a few months from now, determining fairly which guild had the right to earn the title of the best guild in the country of Fiore, but Rogue gave Sting a stern look while reminding him that the masters of the many guilds were not allowed to participate in the tournament. That really made Sting feel discouraged, having wanted to get some redemption for what happened in the tag battle when he and Rogue couldn't even defeat Natsu when he was alone, and Sting sighed a bit while looking down.

However, Rufus countered Rogue's little statement by reminding him and Sting that there were other competitions in Fiore to determine different things. There was even a baking competition for people who enjoyed cooking, and the winner would get 10 million jewels while winning a trophy for their guild. Even if Sabertooth was not able to win in everything, they could earn wins in other things. That seemed totally fair for them, right? At least they wouldn't be looking like jerks, with Minerva not able to be on their team anymore.

Rufus gave Lucy a kind look while giving her an explanation on something known as the Grand Fiore League, and it was a competition that was different from the Grand Magic Games. There were no strange events involved, no major points for winners while losers got nothing, but there were battles. It was like a tournament of 128 people, involving seven rounds, and the winner would receive a fantastic trophy for their guild while being known as the Champion Mage in the entire country of Fiore. The winner could even challenge the Elite Four and the Champion after the main tournament was done, if they wanted to really win it all.

While Sting had taken Lucy's concerns about safety with the spells into consideration, a small smile formed on his face when he thought of the perfect place to train and help Lucy work with that Lightning Magic. Besides, she would probably like the plan that Sting had in mind. He was going to give her a pretty good fight, but he also knew how to give a girl a very good time as well. Sting had seen that look of ambition in Lucy's cocoa brown eyes, seeing her desire to become much stronger, and work wasn't good without some fun included.

When everyone had finished eating their breakfast, Sting got up from the table and ran out of Sabertooth's entrance doors while having that cocky smirk on his face. He had ran so fast, prompting everyone else to look a bit startled by him suddenly leaving the guild, and Lucy was the first person to run after him. She had wondered what he was up to, since Sting was looking pretty confident, and Lucy hoped that her training with Sting would be great. She was followed by everyone else, including Wendy, and they knew how excited Sting could get. While Sabertooth seemed to be having a good morning, how were things going in Fairy Tail?

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><p><strong>At the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

After she had finished giving Natsu his breakfast, seeing the fire dragon slayer leave the bar when he was no longer hungry, Marina had a sly smirk on her face while knowing that she had a pretty important job to do. In order to keep the destructive power of Fairy Tail from ever reaching the guild known as Aqua Kyogre, the teal-haired girl realized that attacking the fairies would not be a good move. She simply had to make the guild implode from the inside out, as only she could, and there was a really perfect way to do that.

As she had gone to her dorm room at Fairy Hills, laying on the bed in only her large lacy blue bra and lacy blue panties, Marina laid under the warm comforter while knowing that her target had already been spoken of in gossip by the other guild members. She was going to mess with Natsu's head, play a few flirty games with the fire dragon slayer's weak mind, and Marina wanted Natsu to truly get karma for what he had done to Lucy. Despite not being her friend or enemy, Marina still knew that Shelly wanted her rival to be in top shape. That meant Lucy had to physically, mentally, and emotionally be ready for battles, so Natsu would have to pay for stabbing her in the heart with his knife of unfaithfulness while he had loved Lisanna.

That also entered the mind of the Aqua Kyogre grunt, making her have a plotting look in her green eyes while she wondered where the best place could be to put Lisanna in all of this. She would not want to be the typical person who would tell the white-haired mage that Natsu was looking somewhat infatuated with her large breasts, and Marina knew that she could not use Natsu's method of sneaking around with him for so many months. That would just be repeating Natsu's same actions with a third woman involved, but Marina sighed a bit in pleasure while she wanted it to a very special moment.

With the end motive in mind, the real first question actually entered her mind. How in the world could she get Natsu alone with her, for him to start swaying over to her side? It would truly be the best move to make some discord occur between him and Lisanna, if that would really be possible, and that would certainly cause the guild to implode on itself. Conflicts could definitely tear a team apart, especially if they can already have the habit of getting dysfunctional, and let's just say that Fairy Tail was like a sword. If Marina could expand the cracks in that sword, would the sword not shatter into pieces? It certainly would, which definitely seemed great.

Unknown to Natsu or anyone else, though, Marina's blackberry perfume was a perfected invention that had been made in the experimental labs of Aqua Kyogre. This perfume was made with the black oil from the Shadow Crystal that had been found in the far-off land of Almia, and the crystal's power had been able to implant darkness into the minds of everyone in that region for a while with its energy waves of darkness. However, the perfume was not designed to make anyone who smelled it become evil. Its purpose was to manipulate the mind of anyone who smelled it, luring them into an attracted state of mind, and the tension that Natsu had created in the guild would have more tension on it.

Of course, the perfume would not make him completely be head over heels for Marina. Natsu had only taken a slight whiff of her scent, so it would take a little while for anything really romantic to occur. Marina knew that she could use him to her advantage while all that time would be going by, though, and she simply had to hope that he would be the perfect tool for her. She still had no idea about what to do for a really good finishing move, but a soft knock at her door had really changed that. Marina looked curious while she heard someone knocking on her door again, and she wondered about who it could be.

The teal-haired girl got out from under the comforter, before getting out of bed to see who was knocking on her door, and she slowly turned the doorknob to see that her surprise visitor was none other than Natsu Dragneel. This would certainly put Marina's plan into motion, but why in the world was Natsu even here? He knew that males weren't allowed in Fairy Hills, but he had actually sneaked in here a few times to get down and dirty with Lisanna on some nights. Since she was out on a job with Juvia right now, why was he here?

"Your name is Marina, right? Well, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for blowing the whip cream on to your shirt. I know that the cream stains will probably not come out anytime soon, even if you put that shirt in the washing machine, but you're just so very..." Natsu asked and explained in an apologetic manner while looking really sorry, before his nose caught the scent of Marina's blackberry perfume. Natsu's strong nose was making him smell it all over, even around her large breasts, and he could only look at her in such a smitten way that made his knees go weak.

He could only look at her in a dazed manner, seeing the beautiful girl standing in front of him, and Marina smirked deviously at the sight of the perfume taking effect on the fire dragon slayer. His high libido from having dirty nights with Lucy and Lisanna also played a really big factor in this, making him slowly walk towards the woman who gently bounced her breasts in front of his face, and Natsu was not even thinking of Lisanna while he closed the door behind him after Marina let him come into her room. Things were probably about to get hot.

Marina responded nicely as she maintained her smirk, whispering in a sultry manner while she put a finger to his lips, "If you want to apologize and flatter me, then get into bed with me and show me how good you are. Come on, you fire dragon slayer. If you want me in any way, then heat me up to get it started. Let's get steamy and warm while we sleep together as well. You'll be doing my bidding while we're secretly in a supposed love, and just let the whole guild implode on you. I even have a present for you and Lisanna to see, so look forward to it."

As she went back to her bed to get under the comforter, the teal-haired girl could only watch as Natsu stripped down to nothing while letting his clothes fall to the floor. He simply jumped into her bed, slightly making her feel pain when he had landed on her body, and the fire dragon slayer got under the comforter with her while the perfume would just begin its simple work of letting Natsu relax with Marina. Her bed was so blue and comfy, so very soft, and it made Natsu feel like he was in heaven while Marina rolled over on her side to feint a pink blush on her cheeks. She was certainly a hot actress with her plan, and let's just say that the scenes were about to begin. (The lemon will be shown later on, since it would seem more appropriate with the plot.)

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><p><strong>On a beach...<strong>

Sting had led Lucy and the others to the beach near the town of Humilau, a resort town that attracted tourists during the summertime with its department store, great waves for surfing, outside pools and many of the tourists had occupied the marvelous-looking villas atop the green grassy hills overlooking the sandy beach and the ocean. The townspeople lived in huts that were on wooden piers, and one of the piers actually led to the Grand Fiore League where the mysterious tournament would be taking place.

The white dragon slayer walked down the beach, seeing no one around right now, and this was the perfect time for him and Lucy to have a training battle. No innocent people would get hurt, and Sting would also try not to damage the beach too much. He wanted to see how powerful he was, and he also wanted to see what Lucy's new spells would be like. Would they be based on power, trickery, succession, or something else? Either way, this made Sting look very excited. He also had given the stamp and color kit to Rogue, since Lucy would be getting her guild mark today.

She opened up her yellow spell book to see that there were only four readable spells of Lightning Magic, certainly a lesser number of moves than what Sting had, but Lucy also knew that he would try to make this a fair fight. He wouldn't make it easy on her, but it would be fair. These unknown spells could probably be what Hikari had used back in the amusement park, but Lucy knew that the book did have its weird way of making some strange spells that could also prove to be very effective in battles. She informed him of the slight drawback, and Sting agreed to keep things even.

Rogue and the others simply sat on one of the grassy hills that stood over the beach, wanting to see what would happen in this battle, and Wendy looked really curious about the book that Lucy was wielding. She wondered about what was in it, wondering what kind of spells Lucy would be using, and the young sky dragon slayer smiled a bit while she began to cheer for her friend. Happy and Carla were also cheering for Lucy as well, but Lector smirked arrogantly as he thought that Sting would definitely win this match.

"All right, Lucy. This will be a practice match between us, and I want to see how strong this new type of magic really is. Since you only have four spells, we'll go by the Grand Magic League rules in the fourth-round battles. This will be a four-on-four fight with one type of magic allowed for each side, and you win by either knocking out your opponent or when the opposing side runs out of magical power. If you're ready, then let's begin." Sting explained calmly with strength in his charming blue eyes, before smirking and going into a combat stance.

Suddenly, a voice responded in a calm manner while it seemed to be coming from the other side of the beach, "Well, it looks like we cross paths again. Hello, Lucy Heartfilia. I do hope that you plan on crying on the beach like how you cried in my hot spring. You and Sting the stooge are having a little practice match, but don't feel good if you win. After all, honey, it's probably the only win that you'll ever get. Don't feel bad, though. Mostly everyone except me has to be a loser in this day and age, and you're really weak."

Sting and Lucy both looked across the beach to see Shelly walking towards them, smirking evilly while she had been in her signature lacy white bra and lacy white panties, prompting the blonde girl to harshly glare at her rival while her mind went back to the day that Shelly kicked her in the stomach at the Oceanic Museum. Lucy had been becoming stronger, smarter, better, faster, and she wanted some payback for that incident. Just because Shelly had berated her to teach the blonde girl a lesson, that did not mean that Lucy had settled things with her. Let's not forget that Shelly almost kissed Sting, the dragon slayer who Lucy shared a mutual attraction with.

Wendy looked a bit confused by what was going on right now, thinking that Shelly was a very nice person, and the young sky dragon slayer could not understand why the blue-eyed woman was fighting Lucy. Rogue had calmly explained to Wendy that Sting was now in love with Lucy, and how they had their first kiss. She also had been seeing Sting as her motivation to do much better, since he was not a jerk like Natsu, and Lucy wanted to show him that she could beat down Shelly in their rematch. The two girls had stern glares on their faces, eager to fight, and Lucy made the first move while opening the yellow spell book.

She used the first spell that was known as Thunder Jolt, and this move caused Lucy's body to become surrounded by yellow electricity while she could feel the voltage charging up from within her. She released all the electricity in the form of seven lightning bolts at Shelly, only for the tanned woman to maintain her evil smirk while she created seven small bubbles of water to counteract Lucy's attack. The blonde mage thought nothing of them at first, until the bubbles were dense enough to not burst from taking such an attack like that. Seven miniature yellow blasts of Lightning Magic transpired in midair, and they had made the bubbles finally burst.

The blonde mage looked frustrated while knowing that she couldn't attack in simple ways like that, but the side effect of her first spell had raised her speed. Lucy had to find some ways to counter Shelly's defensive moves. She smiled confidently while activating her second spell, and it was known as Luminous Lightning. This move made a yellow sphere of Lightning Magic form in between Lucy's hands, and sparks of yellow lightning were coming off of the sphere. She quickly threw it at Shelly, only to have the antagonist create a Water Clone of herself from the puddle of her last spell. The clone of Shelly took the attack, being hit by a large yellow blast of Lightning Magic, and electricity flowed throughout her body while it paralyzed her. Not wanting a damaged tool on the field, Shelly dispelled her clone to turn it back into water.

With two spells now unable to work, Lucy had to think of something. She had to win this battle against Shelly, but that would never happen if her attacks were so easy to read. Lucy had to find some way to psych Shelly out, and her cocoa brown eyes widened in shock while she remembered what Courtney had said about this type of magic. It focused around speed, referring to how fast electricity and light could travel, so Lucy had to use more speed than power in her moves. With that now in mind, the blonde mage just had to get moving. Would this new ability change the tide of this fight?

Lucy created the third spell quickly, imagining it to be quite good, and this move was known as Electric Blitz. This move caused a yellow aura to surround Lucy's body, as yellow lightning came down from the clouds above to strike her, and she began to move really fast while grinning confidently. Lucy was able to run around Shelly at fast speeds, looking like she was teleporting in flashes of lightning, and the blonde mage delivered a series of powerful punches and kicks to her opponent's body. They had been infused with electricity as well, making Shelly get massively shocked, and her body began to glow with a yellow light. What was going on?

The tanned woman had been coughing up blood while her body had been bruised from Lucy's powerful punches and kicks, obviously damaged by such an unexpected move that did not really give away all the details in is name, and eight miniature yellow blasts of light transpired on Shelly's body! Lucy had struck her eight times, so this definitely made sense. Shelly growled angrily while seeing her blood on the ground, appalled at the fact that Lucy had gotten strong enough to land such powerful combo hits, and she clenched her fists while she knew that it was now time to play for real.

She put her hands together, almost like she was in a praying stance, but the blue-eyed woman looked stern as water from the ocean began to enter her hands for this last attack. Shelly absorbed some of it, not all of the ocean's water, and she put her hands apart while having them closed into fists for a moment. Lucy looked curious about what her opponent would do, but the blonde mage noticed that the yellow aura around Shelly kept proceeding to get brighter. What in the world was going on with her? Lucy narrowed her cautious brown eyes, seeing Shelly open her hands to reveal two blue cannons attached to the centers of her palms, and this woman meant serious business.

Shelly told Lucy in a calm tone, smirking with joy at the sight of how her rival looked so cautious, "Keep looking cautious, Lucy Heartfilia, because this next spell is one of my favorites! It's known for washing away the garbage, and it'll wash away someone as weak as you! Let's see how you fare against my Scalding Hydro Cannon!"

Lucy gulped a bit while knowing that the name didn't sound too good, but she had to be brave. Sting was watching her, knowing that this was her personal rivalry, and the white dragon slayer believed that Lucy could win. Upon remembering why she was doing this, Lucy knew that she could not let Sting down. She had originally planned to battle him, but now he could watch from the sidelines to see how powerful she truly was. As Shelly unleashed two large vortexes that combined into a much larger one, she suddenly screamed in pain while electricity began to flow throughout her body!

"Fourth spell of Lightning Magic, I call upon thee! Lightning Beam! Show this watery woman that she made a pretty big mistake to try and kiss Sting, especially since she doesn't even seem to know simple physics!" Lucy shouted with strong emotions in her voice, looking determined to beat Shelly while noticing the delayed side effect of electrocution plus paralysis in her third spell, and she aimed her thin beam at Shelly's giant vortex! Everyone looked surprised to see something so small taking on something that was so much larger, thinking that this would never work, but this was not normal electricity.

Sting and Lector widened their eyes in amazement from seeing the electricity of Lucy's lightning beam flow through the vortex while spinning around rapidly, still going on a path towards Shelly, and water was simply conducting electricity. The lightning was now on a trail towards Shelly, who could not move after using such a powerful attack, and the black-haired woman needed time to recharge. When the lightning quickly got into her cannons, destroying the water at its source, an extremely large blast of Lightning Magic had transpired! It was eight times the size of the normal blast that Lucy had made for the spell's effect, and that was because of the third spell having the properties of chain power. Shelly could be heard screaming while the blast's power was striking her from everywhere, and Lucy screamed in agony as the vortex of scalding hot water had struck her as well!

A tremendously large blue blast of Water Magic had occurred on the beach, the noise getting the attention of many tourists watching from atop the grassy hills, and Sting was anxious to see who had won. The smoke faded away slowly, as both girls could be heard panting loudly, and the last few clouds parted to incredibly reveal that both of them were still standing while they were bruised and bloodied from taking each other's attacks. Shelly had been walking towards Lucy, who fell to her knees after using up so much magical power, and the elite female of Aqua Kyogre had giggled a bit while she changed her evil smirk to a heckling grin for this moment.

"I only came to this beach for some relaxation time, yet we cross paths again. It is like fate, Lucy Heartfilia, and fate has decided that you'll kneel before me like how you're doing now. It may have ended in a tie, but I am the superior one out of the two of us. Your first two spells couldn't even touch me, and yet it took two of your spells to weaken me so much while only one of mine has left you looking burnt to a crisp. You're catching up to me at a fast rate, yet you focus too much on bonding with your spells for friendship. I use mine for power, and my level of mastery with my spells matches my level of sexiness. You're still weak, trying to show off for that weak dragon slayer."

Lucy replied in a determined manner, strength entering her cocoa brown eyes as she was slowly able to stand up, "We may have tied today, but just watch me in the Grand Magic Games! I'll become strong enough to break a Magic Power Finder, and then I'll break all your smart remarks about me. By the way, don't you ever try kissing Sting in front of me. I won't let another guy be taken away from me, and I will get stronger. Those are words that I won't take back, Shelly Izumi, and I follow the honest path. I don't steal like you do, and you'll go down. Don't ever call Sting weak around me because he got me this far, and our love will go all the way to the end..."

Before the blonde mage could say anymore, however, her body gave way while she had been panting heavily. Lucy had collapsed on the sand, not moving anymore, and Lucy knelt down beside her rival to feel for a pulse. Lucy was still alive, having a heartbeat, but she just needed some rest. She also placed her left hand on Lucy's left cheek as well, seeing that she had definitely taken care of her skin as much as she trained really hard. Yukino, Frosch, Lector, Sting and Happy all ran to the aid of their friend, Wendy quickly running alongside them to check out the wounds of both women, and Shelly simply got up to stand aside while the allies of Lucy had come running.

Wendy knelt down beside her blonde friend to heal her stamina, restoring her energy to a good amount that would help her move again, and the young sky dragon slayer noticed that Lucy soon let out a faint groan. Sting stood beside her while looking concerned, hoping that his love interest would be okay, but he also smiled a bit while kissing his girlfriend's cheek to let her know that he was really impressed with how she had fought Shelly to a draw this time. Lucy really had improved, even though that fourth spell was risky in the end, and Shelly smirked a bit while starting to walk off from the scene.

"Shelly-san, please wait! Your injuries must need healing, and you should get some rest as well!" Wendy shouted to the tanned woman while running after her with a concerned facial expression, now that she had given Lucy at least enough energy to walk while not knowing that inhaling some wind would also help the blonde mage feel revitalized.

The black-haired woman responded kindly to Wendy while taking a brown flyer out of the left cup of her lacy white bra to give to the little girl, "Don't feel the need to worry about me, little girl from Fairy Tail. I can easily heal in no time at all because of the dense and defensive Water Magic constantly flowing throughout my body, which explains why I survived Lucy's attack while I can still stand after enduring something so powerful. Still, she's quite a creative rival. Give her this job when she wakes up, and it may help her get stronger. Also, tell her to kiss Sting already to be his girlfriend or I'll do it to spite her. No one likes getting hurt twice, so tell her to kick it up a notch with the love."

As Shelly stepped on a certain part of the sand that was near the ocean, Wendy looked curious to see it take Shelly down in what seemed like a quicksand way of reaching Aqua Kyogre's hideout. She sunk down into the sand while holding her breath and covering her ears, and the hole closed up fast before Wendy could try following her. As Lucy began to wake up, Wendy read the flyer to herself. She could not believe that Aqua Kyogre had jobs like this, even though she still did not know that they were a dark guild, and Shelly had really given Lucy an interesting opportunity to improve her skills.

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 12? Did you like it? Sorry if the fight between Lucy and Shelly wasn't good for a second battle, but this one will lead up to another one! The StiCy is also getting better as well, and Lucy will definitely improve her bond with Sting! Anyway, where will Shelly's flyer send Lucy? Will a certain iron dragon slayer be near there, but something else preoccupies him? If so, what is it? Standby for the update!<strong>


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 13: Earthy Work, Yet It's Dirty Work<strong>

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><p>An entire week had passed since Lucy and had that rivalry battle on the beach with Shelly, and the blonde mage was currently checking out the jobs on Sabertooth's golden request board while Sting was beside her. They were looking for a pretty good job that they could do today, not too hard or too difficult, and Sting felt really confident right now. He had been working with Lucy all week to get her Lightning Magic to be really impressive like the other three types of magic in the spell book, and her attacks had been getting stronger.<p>

Lucy also realized that she could consume lightning like Laxus and Orga were able to do, but she was not a dragon slayer or a god slayer. The book really did have the strangest abilities that she had ever seen, and the spells were even weirder at times. Despite her moves being weird, though, Lucy had figured out that she just needed to absorb electricity before using a move. This way, by properly concentrating her Lightning Magic into her moves, they could be used with much more speed and power in them. Even though she had tied with Shelly in that battle, Lucy was still determined to beat her.

She smiled happily at Sting while they kept looking at the request board, wanting to find what would hopefully be a good job, but Lucy felt something in the left pocket of her green miniskirt. She curiously pulled out a brown piece of paper, unfolding it while remembering that Wendy had given it to her at dinnertime last night, and it was the flyer that Shelly had given to the young sky dragon slayer. Lucy hoped that this would be a real job, not another one of Shelly's tests, and the brown-eyed girl examined the flyer to see exactly what this job entailed.

Lucy wondered what kind of job she would be handling with Sting, hoping that it was something that could make her lightning continue to reach new heights, and she also hoped that this job would not end up containing any deadly traps or dark curses of any kind. The flyer had not described the location at all, not really telling much about it, but Sting had looked over at the flyer while smirking confidently at the sight of Aqua Kyogre being the client. Shelly had obviously wanted Lucy to do something for her guild, but what? As her blond partner sniffed the flyer, he now had an idea of where they had to go.

He told her that the flyer's sandy smell meant that this job was actually far from Rustboro Town, going past Verdanturf Town and up north past Mauville Town, prompting Sting to smirk arrogantly when he told her that this would be the best place for her to try and test out any new skills that she had. Lucy looked a bit curious when she heard those words come out of her companion's mouth, and he let her know that this place would be known as the Desert Resort. It was a pretty sandy place with sandstorms around, from what Sting had once told her, and it was too harsh to actually be a resort.

The brown-eyed girl wondered what Sting could be thinking as he smiled, and Lucy looked over the flyer while reading the back side of it as well to see that they now had the job of taking down someone who was scaring away many of the treasure hunters from the ruins. The place was already dangerous with its rumors of nobody ever coming out alive, and Lucy also assumed that Lightning Magic was ineffective against the sandy earth. Many rocks did have the quality of being lightning rods, capable of absorbing electricity, and this made Lucy look a bit doubtful.

She didn't want to doubt her abilities, but she knew very well that her first four spells of Lightning Magic weren't exactly up to par with a Wizard Saint or anyone near that level. After all, she had only improved them after one week. That certainly wasn't enough time to really get them up to a pretty high level, but Lucy also widened her cocoa brown eyes when she also realized that doubting herself was not the actual way to get things done. She wanted to become stronger than she was in Fairy Tail, desiring to become much stronger, and she had gotten out of tight spots before.

As she opened up the yellow spell book for any new hints about the magic that she had gotten from Courtney, Lucy looked stern while thinking about how her first two spells were not even able to touch Shelly. The black-haired woman had certainly been quite a troublesome foe to deal with, showing off more power than she did in their first battle, and Lucy knew that she had to really step it up a few notches. Her skills had to improve, if she wanted even the slightest chance of really beating Shelly, so Lucy knew that she had to take this job from her rival.

"No matter what happens, Sting, I refuse to lose you to a person like Shelly. You know, I heard her telling Wendy that she would kiss you to spite me. However, she'd only do it if I didn't step up my love for you. I'll show her that I can be the best girlfriend ever, and we'll take care of her dirty work. Whatever it is, it better not be something scary or disgusting to deal with. Anyway, I not lose her to you. I will make Shelly suffer greatly, especially if she tries flirting with you! You are mine!" Lucy shouted loudly with a determined look on her face, before blushing pink at the last part of her speech.

Sting chuckled a bit from hearing his blonde partner be so full of courage, intent on showing Shelly that she was definitely far from being weak, and he was glad that Lucy had been continuing to blush like this. She had even thought that the copious amount of Aqua Kyogre grunts in Fiore had been a concerning matter, making her think that they had been watching her every move to inform Shelly of what Lucy could do, but Sting only saw the high number of thieves as more people getting to know how powerful he was.

Lucy looked back at the flyer that she was holding in her left hand, and she noticed that the reward for capturing this person would be 400,000 jewels. This person did not have that high of a bounty on their head, but they were rumored to be pretty powerful. She could not be scared now when Sting was beside her, wanting to do her absolute best for him, and the disadvantage of one type of magic against another had never mattered to Sting. Lucy began to think that it didn't matter that much as well, especially since the spells in the book were like boxes of chocolate. She never knew what she was going to get.

Lector had also decided to join them while he flew to the top of Sting's head, knowing that his friend would definitely get the job done, and Lucy seemed happy to have another member on the job. Wendy and Rogue had already gone out on other jobs, not able to accompany Lucy and Sting right now, and Orga had also gone out on a job with Rufus and Yukino. When Sting and Lector ran from Sabertooth's entrance doors, Lucy knew that she had to bring out the full power of lightning. Sting believed in her, and she began to look fierce while having confidence in her magic. As she ran after the duo, her yellow spell book glowed once again.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, in the desert...<strong>

Two people were standing in front of the Relic Castle, one of them smirking confidently while her eyes widened from sensing something, and she kept looking out at the hills of sand while having a few thoughts. This woman's name was Runo Sabaku, a criminal who had also been part of the dark guild known as Magma Groudon, and she had been wanted for committing many crimes. She wore a simple red T-shirt with a black skirt, and she also wore some knee-high black leather boots. Her brown hair was waist-length, and her eyes were of an orange color.

Her accomplice was a guy wearing a red blazer with a white shirt underneath, and his pants were also scarlet red. His tennis shoes were white, and his hair was dark red while having it in the shape of red flames. This guy was known as Eshros Iwa, another mage from the dark guild known as Magma Groudon, and he had only partnered up with Runo because she was a strong person who had been stealing money from treasure hunters and tourists who entered the Desert Resort. His calm demeanor was one reason why Runo liked having him around, too.

Eshros noticed that Runo was shaking with excitement, looking like she had just sensed a great vibration of power, but then she ceased with her shaking. This meant that the power she sensed had now been faint, not having the same vast amount of power that she had been detecting last week, and all of that strange power had seemed to be coming from Humilau Town. That was interesting, since she sensed that at the same time that Lucy and Sting were training on the beach there. She still smirked, however, and giggled a bit.

Runo could detect the level of a mage's power, no matter how far away they were, and she could even track them if they were deep in a mine shaft. She could tell that this person was coming her way, making her giggle even more, and Runo looked a bit surprised at his girlfriend's current state. She had been sensing a lot of power lately, coming from different places at different places, and this immense power was most likely the power of Lucy's spell book. Runo did not know Lucy, however, only knowing her level of power.

The guy with the flaming hair knew that his girlfriend could be quite arrogant in fights, displaying her power to make quite an impression on anyone who entered the Relic Castle, and she planned to take all of the castle's treasures for herself. This new enemy of hers was probably nothing to really worry about for Runo, but Eshros knew that she really had to be cautious. That level of power had been really intense last week, most likely coming from the electrical stingrays that came from Lucy's fourth spell, and Eshros had to wonder if Runo could beat that.

"I sensed quite a strong vibration a few moments ago, but now I only slightly feel it. That means I am more than powerful enough to defeat the next foolish mage when they arrive. There is no doubt. I can't get their exact location, but that magical power is heading our way. This will be a good opportunity to take out someone else, and I'll become even stronger." Runo said in an arrogant manner, feeling very sure of her abilities.

Eshros responded cautiously while glaring at his girlfriend, not wanting her to be in over head, "You've sensed their power, but we still do not even know what kind of power this mage has. Whatever type of magic they have, we must be really careful. They could even hit us with sneak attacks when we least expect it, or maybe they would even have-"

He was suddenly kicked hard in the groin by Runo, who shot a death glare at him for even assuming that anyone could be stronger than she was. He was supposed to be her boyfriend, but she only cared about him because he made her look strong to other people. Runo was known as the Earth Dragon Slayer by anyone who had encountered her, and she had learned her magic from an Earth Dragon named Clay. She was very prideful, and she also punched Eshros in the face for not thinking that she could handle anything that came her way.

Runo also possessed many spells, and she grinned evilly when she believed that she was an elite-class dragon slayer. She could make many spells of Earth Dragon Slayer Magic, and she always tested out the spells by destroying every single dark guild to get some recognition for herself. It was interesting to see a dark mage destroy dark guilds, and Runo always ate the rubble of each guild to make herself stronger. She could eat earth, sand, mud, and even some of the rocky statues in the Desert Resort.

She narrowed her orange eyes at Eshros, seeing him as nothing but a weak tool that she could use to find dark guilds since he knew most of Fiore like the back of his hand, and Runo planned to blow up the light guilds when her selfish plan was finished. Since Sabertooth was the nearest light guild, the green-haired woman thought about starting there to really give the world a true demonstration of her power. She planned to kill Eshros when he was no longer needed in her plans, but he did not know anything about her scheme.

Runo actually had a team in Magma Groudon, but she had kicked out the other four members because they were much weaker than she was. She had the thought of weak trash not being needed on her team, and she only saw Eshros as a tool that would help her get stronger. She didn't need him for anything else, not even really considering him to be her boyfriend, and she was just using him like a pawn. Runo had been manipulating him, since he was the guild's most recent rookie, and this plan of hers was certainly self-centered and egotistical. Those adjectives sounds familiar and perfectly fitting with another certain mage, do they not?

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><p><strong>At the entrance...<strong>

Lucy, Sting, and Lector had arrived at the entrance to the Desert Resort. This was a large and barren desert with vicious sandstorms raking it, and Lucy tried her best to not let any sand get in her eyes. She hadn't exactly dressed appropriately for the heat, either, and she was sweating profusely. Lucy currently wore a simple white T-shirt with a green miniskirt, and her flat shoes were blue. She could see the deep sand being a darker brown color than the golden sand, and she curiously walked towards it.

However, Sting quickly grabbed her left arm and pulled her back towards him while looking cautious. He sternly looked at her with care in his charming blue eyes, letting her that the brown sand was quicksand, and he didn't want her to sink into it at all. Quicksand was extremely difficult to escape from, and nobody knew where the quicksand pits would lead to. Sting could see that some tourists were here, mainly people who wanted to explore the ruins from their various entrances, and he had to wonder about what was in the Relic Castle.

Sting had heard the legends about ancient ruins containing many secrets, and he himself had once visited the Hippowdon Temple in the country of Almia to discover a secret that involved two dragons of space and time. He had also been researching on three legendary golems that were the keys to unlocking a much greater being, but he had never found out what any of them were. Sting opened his mouth to eat some sunlight, and he looked a bit serious when he could feel that the enemy was around here somewhere.

The heat in the Desert Resort was certainly unbearable for Lucy, and even resting against a rock wall made her feel like heat was on her back. The golden sand was very hot as well, burning her hands when she tried to pick it up, and the blonde girl yelped in pain while blowing on her burnt hands. Sting saw that she was in pain, so he activated a move known as White Dragon's Healing. Holding her gentle hands in his, Sting made a white aura surround Lucy's hands and make them pure again. They were now free of the sudden burns, making her smile from the relief.

In order to thank Sting for helping her out, Lucy opened up the yellow spell book to see if her Lightning Magic could help him in any way. She widened her cocoa brown eyes from seeing that the book had given her the next four spells to use, and Lucy did not even know how she had unlocked them. They had now been written because of her love for Sting, believing that more power was inside of her, and the blonde female wondered what kind of effects these spells would have. Would they be really useful without anything backing them up, unlike the other four spells?

"I call upon thee, the fifth spell, Lightning Magnetism!" Lucy shouted happily, confidence in her eyes while she looked ready to find the criminal and protect Sting.

This spell caused a slow-moving ball of electricity to emerge from her left hand, and it headed straight for the sandy hill in front of the entrance to the Desert Resort. Lucy waited for the spell's effect to transpire immediately, hoping to see something powerful happen for Sting to be impressed with her once again, but nothing happened. Not even a single spark of lightning occurred, really giving Lucy quite a shock, and Sting also seemed puzzled by the spell's effect not showing itself. Lucy saw nothing occur, and she sighed sadly.

As Sting comforted Lucy, not wanting her to feel down about this, he didn't even take notice of Runo and Eshros standing in front of the Relic Castle. Runo had definitely picked up on that little vibration, detecting that spell as soon as it was used, and her orange eyes traced the power to the two people who seemed to have recently entered the Desert Resort. She finally realized that they must have been the ones who were heading her way, ready to defeat her, and Runo grinned evilly before snapping her fingers to vanish in a twister of sand.

She reappeared in the twister that was in front of Lucy, making a giant fist of sand strike the blonde girl in the face with tremendous force, and Lucy was sent flying backwards into the nearby wall of rock. Sting looked concerned for her, rushing to Lucy's aid, and he quickly figured out that this was the criminal they had to defeat. In retaliation for hurting Lucy, Sting glared at the sand twister and used his White Dragon's Holy Breath attack to destroy it. He unleashed the enormous white beam of light from his mouth, only to have the criminal slam her fists against the ground to summon a large rock wall from underground to cancel out his attack.

Lucy managed to get up, wincing in pain from her impact against the rock wall, and she used the sixth spell of Lightning Magic that was known as Electric Shield. This spell obviously made two grey pillars rise high into the air, being on both sides of a wall that was made from yellow electricity, and it was perfect for defending against some needles of sand that were fired from the large twister. Lucy's shield bent like rubber, absorbing the impact of the numerous needles, and it converted them into electrical needles before sending them back at their user.

This shield also amplified the reflected damage by six times the original power of the attack, and many large blasts of lightning transpired when the twister deflected some of the electrical needles to hit other areas of the Desert Resort. Lucy didn't want any innocent people to get hurt, and she got some relief from seeing many tourists run past her to get some safety. The needles of electricity had made blasts that were large enough to break through the twister, and Runo screamed in pain when she was getting electrocuted. Sting finally got to see who the criminal was, and he was shocked at what she did next.

She explained in a harsh tone, angry with the Sabertooth mages for getting in her way, "Well, look what we have here. All the magical power that I've been sensing has been coming from one of Sabertooth's dragon slayers, and it's also coming from his girlfriend as well. That doesn't matter, though. I am Runo, the Earth Dragon Slayer, and I am an elite among the light and dark mages alike. I also don't like having weaklings on my team. They are all trash to me, including any followers I have."

Before Lucy or Sting could even retaliate, Runo slammed her palms against the ground to make two walls of earth rise up from the ground and crush her foes with a hard slam. She felt very confident about this two-on-one battle now being a one-on-one battle, thinking that she had taken out Lucy with one shot, and dealing with Sting would be very fun for her. A battle of dragon slayers would be pretty great, in her opinion, but she first had to make sure that one foe was crushed. Upon hearing no response, Suna arrogantly smirked before laughing.

She didn't even see that Lucy had quickly jumped on to Sting's shoulders before the rock walls could crush her, and she looked pretty angry to know that there was a female version of Natsu right before her eyes. She still had a score to settle with him, remembering that Erza had gotten in the way of Lucy delivering the finishing blow in Fairy Tail, and this situation was like a reverse of the genders. She never knew that some girls could be just as rude as Natsu was, and hearing Runo's arrogant laughter made Lucy determined to beat her.

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><p>"I don't know what kind of elite dragon slayer you think that you are, but you aren't that strong if you can't even beat someone who was the weakest mage in Fairy Tail!" Lucy shouted fiercely, looking pretty angry as she used the Thunder Jolt spell to help herself and Sting escape from Runo's attack.<p>

The rock walls were easily destroyed, definitely making Eshros and the Earth Dragon Slayer look very surprised, and they both looked startled to see the two mages from Sabertooth running towards Suna at high speeds when she had distanced herself from them. Lucy and Sting both looked pretty determined to succeed on this job, and they were capable of understanding each other through simple eye contact. They ran straight towards Runo, but suddenly veered off to the left and the right to get her confused.

Eshros, being a new mage to Magma Groudon, looked pretty startled by such a maneuver. He stepped back while asking Runo about which one he should try to attack, but she just angrily called him a dope for asking that question. She thought that by attacking Lucy, there would be no way for the blonde girl to defend herself with any techniques. Runo attempted to launch another giant sand fist at Lucy, only to have Sting strike her from behind with White Dragon's Roar. Runo gasped in shock from the sudden attack, and she fell to the ground before getting up again with a frustrated scowl on her face.

She angrily asked Lucy and Sting, looking pretty pissed off, "What kind of cheap sneak attack was that? Are you seriously so reckless?"

Runo slammed her fists against the ground once again when Sting and Lucy both lunged at her, and the ground began to crack before making multiple explosions transpire. They sent the mages flying backwards, making Runo giggle at the thought that she already won this fight, but she looked straight ahead to see her opponents simply panting while strength was still in their eyes. Their persistence startled Eshros, never having seen this kind of thing before, and he became even more shocked to see a yellow aura surround Lucy's body to allow her to move at lightning speed. She was heading straight for him this time, making him panic a bit.

His green-haired teammate groaned in frustration, angrily shouted that she just had to be paired with a weak loser like Eshros, and she tried to finish off Lucy by making giant brown spikes of earth rise from the ground to strike her from underneath. However, Lucy quickly called upon the seventh spell to stop those spikes. It was known as Electric Curve, and this spell simply made a beam of lightning emerge from her left hand. It hit one spike, and curved off to hit the others. Every curve it took caused the beam of lightning to grow bigger and faster, and it was also stronger. The beam was redirected around like a pinball bouncing off numerous objects, and it finally exploded in a massive yellow blast when it destroyed a single earth spike. With this spell being torn through, Suna looked pretty hotheaded.

She continued to chastise Eshros, calling him a useless buffoon, and Runo fiercely turned the sand below Lucy into gooey mud that rose up from the ground and immobilized Lucy with its properties of being really sticky. However, Sting ran towards her and freed her with Holy Ray while grinning with confidence. Lucy landed in his arms, and she blushed a bit while thanking him for the nice save. She got back down to the ground, and Lucy realized something interesting about the Electric Curve spell. The curve didn't just go in a random trajectory, but it could also be used for other spells as well. Every time it bounced off an earth spike, the large spike would have a yellow aura surrounding it. If the theory that Lucy was creating would prove to have been correct, Lightning Magic was more useful than it seemed to be.

As she used Electric Curve, however, Runo quickly went op top of the large hill where Lucy's fifth spell had seemingly failed to work. The green-haired woman could change the properties of the earth, and she created iron rock walls out of the sand in front of her. Even the quicksand made large iron rock wall rise from the ground, and they all turned from brown to a grey color to represent the change. Even the hill of sand that she was standing on became grey like iron, and Runo laughed viciously with the thought of Lucy's lightning not being able to break through the hardest iron in Fiore.

The yellow beam of lightning emerged from Lucy's hand, and it quickly curved off the first iron rock wall to reach the second. It touched the walls in a zigzag manner, making a yellow aura surround them, and Sting had a clue about what Lucy was up to. He remembered how that spell worked in a chain manner of succession, similar to the Aqua Ball spell of Water Magic, and the Electric Curve spell had now hit seven of the ten rock walls in front of the hill where Runo was located. The spell was evolving with every link in the chain, and its power just kept getting stronger.

Eshros thought to himself, looking really frightened at this level of power that Lucy was demonstrating, _"Those guys are human, aren't they? Why aren't they scared like me, especially after having to go through all of Runo's attacks? Where in the world do these guys get all their strength from?"_

Sting's blue eyes widened from seeing the spell continue to just bounce off the remaining rock walls, and he thought that Lucy's efforts would really go to waste when he saw Suna preparing to jump off of the hill of grey iron sand. However, he became even more surprised to see that she found herself unable to move at all while she stood on the iron hill. It was crackling with yellow electricity surrounding it, almost like some kind of magnetic force was holding Runo down, and that's when Sting remembered the fifth spell. It hadn't worked earlier because the hill wasn't containing any metal, but it worked now because of their opponent making the ground have metallic properties.

Scowling angrily at the fact that all her spells were being torn through, Runo quickly changed the terrain from iron to to being sandy again to regain mobility. She could see that Lucy's spell was extremely large now, possibly at the level of causing instant death upon impact, and she made a sand twister bring Eshros for her to use as a human shield to stop that spell in its tracks. Runo thought that she had now won, but Lucy's yellow spell book began to shine even brighter while she looked determined to defeat Runo for treating her own teammate so badly.

The blonde mage couldn't believe that someone could be lower than a dirty snake to use their own partner as a shield, and Lucy activated the eighth spell of Lightning Magic. This was the final spell, and Lucy looked pretty heated when she could definitely see similarities in Runo and Natsu. Her last spell was known as Electric Vortex, and it caused a massive vortex of yellow lightning to be fired straight from her mouth. Its power caused the already powerful Electric Curve to merge with it, making the eighth spell even more powerful, and Runo could only curse at Eshros while strangling him for being so scared of this level of power.

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><p>When the final spell hit both of the dark mages, it created many massive blasts of yellow lightning that nearly obliterated all of the sand in the Desert Resort. Suna and Aisu both became paralyzed with electricity because of the spell's side effect, and they were sent blasting off into the sky. As one last act of revenge against the Sabertooth mages for messing up her fun, Suna made the ground become filled with muddy tidal waves that would simply cover their targets in dirty mud. The impact would be like getting slammed with the pressure of tidal waves, though, and the sore loser laughed evilly.<p>

Lucy looked like she wanted to panic, as she slipped down into the mud, and she gasped in shock upon seeing her yellow spell book sink into mud. She knew that even Virgo's digging skills might not save her from something like this, and she closed her eyes while a tidal wave of mud slammed down on her. She was sent down into the mud, sinking pretty fast, and Lucy couldn't find Sting or her book anywhere. Her clothes were being ruined by all the mud, and so was her hair. All this mud would not really make a good spa treatment, to be honest.

Suddenly, she felt something like a person's hand grab her left arm and pull her to safety. Lucy slowly opened her brown eyes to see that Sting had pulled her up to the surface of the Desert Resort, and he was also covered in the dirty mud. She was really glad that he had helped her out today, and Sting had also saved Lucy's life. He really was a great guy to have around, and Sting had really made Lucy feel happy. She really saw him as the guy who could heal her pain and erase her worries, even though she seemed to have lost the book.

"Oh, man! I totally have to get your book, Lucy! I know you really cherish that thing, and all your spells are really cool! You're a pretty great girl, too, so I have to help you get-" Sting shouted in a somewhat alarmed tone, noticing she didn't have the book with her, and he was suddenly silenced.

Lucy cupped Sting's face in her hands, kissing him on the lips with gentle ease to show how much she loved his newest acts of gratitude, and she was really lucky to have him as a partner. She wanted him to know that she wanted to be more than friends, and Sting kissed back while he blushed from feeling her soft lips. He was enjoying her sweet kiss, loving the fact that she was a great partner to have with him on jobs, and he also thought that she looked cute when she was muddy. Lucy was now the girl that he wanted as a girlfriend, and Sting was the guy that Lucy had wanted as a boyfriend.

She told Sting in a loving manner, removing her hands from his face while she blushed from the beauty of his blue eyes, "Sting, I really couldn't have been so helpful without you. I've never faced someone who had so many moves, and our teamwork really proved that we're an amazing combination. I'm in love with the greatest guy ever, and he's you."

"Thanks, Lucy. We really do make a great duo, and I really think we would be good for each other. I love being around you, Lucy." Sting responded in a kind manner, before grinning happily from getting a kiss from the girl that he loved.

Lector had been watching everything from the sky, not wanting to get muddy or hit with powerful chunks of earth, and he smirked with confidence from seeing Sting get kissed. He knew that his friend had the charms to make Lucy fall in love with him, and he also knew that a great dragon slayer would never screw up a relationship. He was about to go down there to make sure that his friends were okay, but something began to bubble in the water between them. What in the world could that be?

Lucy could see that a rectangular object had risen to the surface, obviously being her spell book, and it was strangely smelling like chocolate with some caramel mixed into it. The mud suddenly slithered off of the book, revealing it to be in perfect condition on every single page, and it had now changed from yellow to being orange. That made both Sting and Lucy look surprised, especially when the latter looked in the book to see a fifth section with words in a new olden language that had its first few lines of information in orange text. The unreadable words were in brown text, and Sting had to wonder what this book truly was. It certainly was anything but ordinary, that's for sure. It had even changed all the dirty mud into chocolate, from what Sting tasted when he got curious. Had it absorbed Suna's substance-changing ability?

As the duo smiled at each other while holding hands, going towards the entrance to head back to their guild while Lector followed them, they did not even notice that Shelly emerged from behind the right side of the Relic Castle. She looked pretty satisfied at the sight of what had happened, content with the fact that two of the pests from Aqua Kyogre's rival guild had been dealt with, and just seeing Lucy in action made her smirk deceptively once again. She was certainly glad to have been sneaky enough to find out Magma Groudon's hideout was close to here for Lucy to defeat those commanders, and she would be sure to have the reward of 400,000 jewels be waiting at the Sabertooth guild for the blonde girl.

_"This is wonderful, really. I had been dreading the thought of fighting enemies in the desert with no water around, and Lucy Heartfilia has done my dirty work for me. After all, it would be quite troublesome for me to have to deal with those flaming idiots on my tail. Lucy has much potential like I do, and it's quite interesting to note that she really hates Natsu while having finally kissed Sting. Lucy has a heart and soul of light, but it needs a little darkness as well. After all, I'd love to see her use that anger on me with all of her energy." Shelly_ thought to herself while smiling at the sight of Lucy's book being orange like a beautiful sunset that occurred after it had led her from the redness of Natsu's flames to being yellow like Sting's blond hair.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, in the castle...<strong>

While most of the action had been going on outside the castle, something quite interesting had been going on inside of it. The inner portion of the Relic Castle was filled with sand and stone walls, quicksand pits on the floor to send people down into the lower chambers of this old castle, and let's just say that a certain iron dragon slayer had fallen down one of them while he had been on a job in here. Gajeel was doing a job that involved tracking down a certain person in the depths of this place, but what could anyone possibly be doing down here?

The black-haired male looked stern while walking down a hallway that was far underground, even though Magma Groudon had put a warp panel at the end of this hallway to be outside the Relic Castle to keep watch on people who could try any attempts to steal the treasures inside, but Gajeel did not really mind being underground to look for this person. She had apparently been missing for a few days now, having been seen entering the castle, but this female had not come back out. Even if she had gotten lost, her voice could probably echo far to also faintly reach the upper floors.

Speaking of hearing things, Gajeel thought that he heard a bunch of explosions occurring outside as well. He had wanted to see what all the noise had been about, but the iron dragon slayer felt like shrugging it off for now. There was nothing really interesting about someone digging up a few bombs that were hidden in the Desert Resort, since Magma Groudon had hid them in the ground to keep people from digging up their precious stuff, and Gajeel had actually walked right past Runo earlier without her or Eshros even paying any mind to him.

Suddenly, he began to stop walking while he saw the yellow warp panel up ahead. That wasn't the thing seeming odd to the red-eyed user of Iron Dragon Slayer Magic, but he noticed that a girl with purple hair had her back turned to him while she was faintly humming an eerie tune. It was creepy that she hummed the tune in such a weird way, almost making some parts of her song sound like they were meant for happiness, and Gajeel simply kept his hands in his pockets while approaching this strange girl. What in the world was she here for, anyway?

As he got closer to her while looking pretty bored, the girl with the purple hair simply turned around to face him. She had turned around slowly while keeping her hair over her eyes, a purple aura surrounding her body, and this girl gave off a pretty haunting vibe to Gajeel. Whatever she wanted from him, it might not exactly be a ticket out of the castle. She moved her hair over her left purple eye only, letting her right eye be visible now, and it suddenly began to glow while she seemed to be using a spell of some sort on him.

"Stay away!" She shouted in a harsh tone, speaking in a ghastly voice while smirking evilly, as she blinked her left eye once to use her move on Gajeel.

The iron dragon slayer blinked as well, suddenly finding himself in midair, before he fell down into the sea of chocolate that Runo had made to drown Lucy and Sting. The iron dragon slayer quickly rose to the surface while taking some of the substance in his hand, and he noticed that it was chocolate. If this had something to do with that weird girl, Gajeel did not find it to be funny. Still, something about her seemed pretty weird. She had looked similar to someone who was in the guild of Fairy Tail, but Gajeel looked grumpy enough while not being in the mood to put a name to a face right now.

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><p><strong>How was the 13th chapter? Did you like it? Sorry if I changed the plot a bit from what I originally planned, but it all came together. Sting and Lucy are now officially boyfriend and girlfriend, a true StiCy couple, and things will get good for them in these next few chapters. This chapter was also mostly focused on them, too. The Grand Magic Games or a similar event is coming up, too. What will happen when Happy has loose lips? Will it cause Natsu to do something? Will Lucy's past catch up with her, and cause quite a ruckus? Standby for the update!<strong>


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 14: From Electric Shocker To Earthy Rocker<strong>

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><p>Another week had gone by, and Lucy had been getting some time to bond with her new magic. It had come as a result of the book being covered in Suna's magical mud that had filled the Desert Resort, and the spell book itself was now in the color of orange. The book had also informed her that this fifth type of magic was Earth Magic, capable of helping Lucy work with much more strength and defense, and she could also work with rocks. The Earth Magic had allowed her to manipulate sand and mud as well, molding objects such as weapons or shields out of them as her non-spell abilities.<p>

Sting had been training with her in the mountains of Fiore where rocky terrain would obviously be located, and he had been helping her get it strong early on for it to not have a weak start like with the Lightning Magic. He had made her try to pick up enormous boulders and turn solid cliffs into sand or mud, but those feats didn't surprise Sting as much as when he saw Lucy eat mud, rocks, and sand to replenish her energy. The book seemed to be making these inedible pure for her each time as well, making an orange aura surround her body, and they weren't hurting her digestive system in any way.

Lucy was so happy to have Sting as her boyfriend and training partner, since they worked really well together on jobs, and they had the white dragon slayer was happy to have someone like Lucy as a girlfriend. The brown-eyed girl had been very supportive of him, cheering him on when he had to handle something that would seem difficult, and Sting loved the way how Lucy could get along with almost anyone. Not only did she possess a great bond with the orange spell book, but she also had a good bond with her Celestial Spirits.

In fact, she even used Scorpio and Taurus to help her test out the Earth Magic by respectively creating vortexes of sand and slamming huge chunks of earth upward with one blow from a mighty axe. Lucy's average running speed had grown majorly overall, most likely thanks to the Lightning Magic, but her average amount of strength was growing because of the Earth Magic. She didn't look more muscular in any way, but Lucy had enjoyed lifting up boulders when her new Earth Magic was there as a nice means of support.

She was currently having lunch with Sting today at the Sabertooth guild, eating a cheeseburger with fries while her boyfriend was eating a large steak, and they were discussing more about the upcoming Grand Magic Games as well as the Grand Fiore League that Rufus had once mentioned. Sting told Lucy that he couldn't compete in the Grand Magic Games this year, since the master of a guild could not be in the tournament, and he was trying his best to hope that Sabertooth would come out on top this year to regain their former glory.

He also let Lucy know that the Grand Fiore League was a tournament like Rufus had said it was, but that competition was not like the Grand Magic Games. There were battles, but there was more to winning than just brute force. Battles in the Grand Fiore League involved appealing, which meant showing off strength and the beauty of spells in very creative ways. Showing off the glamour of spells could also cause opponents to lose points, and Sting let Lucy know that those types of battles would end when one side got knocked out or lost all 100 points.

The Grand Fiore League had judges like the Grand Magic Games did, and that competition also had its own set of rules. For example, the teams in the tournament would have to pick their least and most experienced mages at different times because of special rules informing everyone that the matches would involve full battles. Full battles involved six types of magic on each side, and whichever side ran out of magical power first or got knocked out would be eliminated from the tournament. Even one-on-one battles could be stressful, causing some people to have to choose very carefully for a winning chance.

"Lucy, I hope you are very psyched up for whichever tournament you decide to enter. I want Sabertooth to win the Grand Magic Games, and it would really be awesome to see you win for our guild. You have an entire arsenal of spells in your book, even though the Earth Magic hasn't given us a single spell yet, and I just know you'll do great. In fact, you could even show Fairy Tail a thing or two while you're at it." Sting told her in a calm tone while smirking arrogantly, having complete faith in his girlfriend's abilities while sitting across from her at the table.

She responded in a kind manner, determination in her brown eyes as she smiled back at Sting, "Thank you, Sting! I'm glad that you believe in me, and I won't let you down! I want my new guild to see that I'm nothing like I was in Fairy Tail, and I will definitely show Natsu that the powers of my orange spell book can really make a rocking rumble! I haven't been able to use any dragon-slaying moves like Runo could, and maybe the book is understanding the mental images of the spells I make with its own unorthodox logic thrown into the mix. It keeps on surprises me, no matter how many new spells I get."

The blonde mage had heard rumors of the Grand Magic Games being replaced with the Grand Fiore League, but rumors were never really the real deal. Nobody had a clue about what would happen, except the one piece of information that stayed really consistent. One of these big events would be occurring in two months from now, and they both gave people lots of ambition with pressure added. One tournament would decide the best guild in Fiore with events and battles, but another would decide the Fiore League Champion with battles and the stylishness of a mage included. One had ferocity, and one was simply fabulous. However, both competitions would be fierce.

While Lucy was feeling comfortable in Sabertooth with Sting, how was her old guild doing without her? The curiosity made its way into her cocoa brown eyes, wondering who Fairy Tail would pick for their teams that would compete in this year's Grand Magic Games, and she obviously knew that Lisanna and Elfman would be replacing her and Wendy. However, Lucy certainly had no idea that the young sky dragon slayer and Happy had gone back to their old guild with Carla to finish some business. Were they going to get harsh treatment from Natsu, or would things be a bit less tense?**  
><strong>

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><p><strong>At the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

Due to her desire to spend more time with Lucy, not wanting to be really far away from the blonde mage, Wendy had come to the Fairy Tail guild to get her guild mark removed. Lucy had told Wendy all about how the guild had kept Natsu's affair with Lisanna secret from her thirteen months, always telling lies to her face, and Lucy also let Wendy know that her old friends had only lied to her while clearly being on Natsu's side of the affair. Those guys had definitely been supporting Natsu's affair, but Lucy did not even know about what she had been responsible for.

She had not exactly done anything that was to be considered wrong, but the speech that she had given to the people in her former guild had really caused them to feel guilty about their actions towards her. Lucy had been getting duped by her slimy, deceiving, lying, two-timing jerk of a boyfriend for thirteen months, and no one deserved to have their heart and mind played to the thought where the love could be true. It was certainly not a shining love, since Natsu had tainted that love by cheating on Lucy with Lisanna, and many of the guild members could not shake their guilt.

Juvia had even returned from her job with Lisanna to try and admire Gray, only for the ice mage to look utterly depressed about the fact that he had done nothing to keep Lucy's heart out of the path towards emotional harm. A true friend would have actually done something to save Lucy from being hurt, especially if she was getting seen as nothing more than a tool by a dense guy like Natsu, and Gray had really wished that he could find his blonde friend to deliver an apology to her. Erza had wanted to deliver a sincere apology as well for betraying Lucy, just letting her suffer all alone like a pawn in Natsu's game, but the scarlet-haired mage had no idea about where she could be.

Wendy could see that most of the guild members were looking pretty upset over their previous actions towards Lucy, really wanting to make things right with her, but the young sky dragon slayer had promised Lucy to not let anyone from her old guild know where she was. They could all truly be upset about the fact that Lucy would not be their friend for quite a long while, since she had been betrayed by those fake friends of hers for thirteen months, but everyone else would possibly be pretty miffed with her for joining the rival guild known as Sabertooth.

Natsu had never liked anyone from the Sabertooth guild because of how Jiemma had excommunicated Yukino from the guild during the Grand Magic Games last year, and the fire dragon slayer would probably go insane if he found out that Lucy was now officially part of the guild that was run by the guy that he hated the most. It was not like he had any intentions of getting the brown-eyed girl back, since he was now with Lisanna, and let's just say that Natsu had done a little something with Marina as well. He had no idea of what she was planning, however, and Natsu simply stayed with Lisanna for a while.

Wendy could see the pink-haired dragon slayer getting cuddly with his white-haired lover, giving her soft kisses on her lips while his fiery hands gently gave warmth to her breasts that were behind the green plaid bikini top that she was wearing right now, and Lisanna had been giggling happily while Natsu was feeling her nice body. She had loved being touched by him, most likely because he had always been so gentle with her, and that was a real difference from when Natsu had been with Lucy. As Wendy looked around for Master Makarov, she had accidentally run into Cana.

The brown-haired woman told her in a somewhat startled manner, looking down at her while seeming more interested about the blue haired-girl's return instead of the fact that she had just finished the last keg of alcohol in the guild, "Hey, Wendy! You're finally back from that job you went out on! We were all really worried about what had happened to you, since we didn't hear a single word from you or Carla! We were about to send out a search team, but then the stuff with Lucy came up. You don't even know much about that, so I can only tell you that she's gone. She came in here the other day, but now Lucy has left the guild for good."

Before Wendy could even reply, Happy spoke up in a very reproving manner while correcting Cana's statement, "For your information, Cana, we actually ran into Lucy one day. I'll have you know that she told us how you were all extremely uncouth to her, so very rude to keep such a big secret like Natsu's affair from reaching her ears, so don't even act like it's just unimportant events that happened in our absence! If this is supposed to be a guild of friendship, you should not have been so disloyal to let Lucy's heart get hurt like that! At least she's doing fine now."

The words of Happy had made people like Erza and Gray widen their eyes with curiosity, making the blue Exceed immediately look embarrassed while covering his mouth with his hands, and even Natsu looked over to see his pet cat floating in the air beside Carla. The fire dragon slayer was really glad that Happy had come back, but he was not exactly joyful to hear that Lucy was getting even more sympathy from people who did not even witness her beat him down with Fire Magic. It seemed that many people were now on her side, and they had every right to be.

Gray had politely asked Happy about where Lucy was now, really wanting to apologize for letting her solely deal with the emotional pain that Natsu had sent her way, and the ice mage narrowed his dark blue eyes when Happy refused to say anything about that topic. Erza had even looked at Happy with a stern glare on her face, demanding that he tell them where Lucy was, but the blue Exceed was loyal to his blonde friend. Unlike Erza and Lisanna, Lucy had actually spent some of her jewels to get ten fish per day for Happy. She had been nice enough to return the favor, since he had taken her all the way to Rustboro, and now Happy was going to protect his dear friend.

Wendy, Carla, and Happy had all refused to say anything about where Lucy was located right now, not wanting to betray their friend like how everyone else from the Fairy Tail guild had stabbed her in the back, but being around people from Sabertooth came with a price. Natsu looked suspicious while sniffing the air, detecting the strange scent of what seemed to be an intruder, and the fire dragon slayer narrowed his eyes at Wendy while angrily clenching his fists. The smell had not come into Fairy Tail, at least not until the blue-haired girl came through the entrance doors, and that scent smelled similar to strawberries with a mix of a leftover blueberry scent from a certain dark guild that Wendy had delivered food to.

Probably guessing that Lucy was hanging out with people from Sabertooth, Natsu got up from his seat to run out the door. Lisanna had ran right behind her boyfriend while looking concerned, hearing him mutter something about Lucy really being a traitor now, and the white-haired mage did not want any problems to arise. The drama was bad enough when Lucy's departure had made the guild begin to simply implode on Natsu with people hating him for actions, and starting a fight with Lucy would only bring about more strife. Erza, Gray, Wendy, Happy, Cana, and Carla had followed the duo as well, trying to stop Natsu from possibly getting back at Lucy for beating him down.

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><p><strong>Back at Sabertooth...<strong>

With the Grand Magic Games coming up, everyone was eager to know who would be selected to compete this year. Sting had really wanted to join in on the fun, but he also had to maintain his position of being the guild master of Sabertooth. Rogue let him know that the team would definitely do good for him, though, so there would be nothing to worry about. However, there was also the possibility of the Grand Fiore League being the main event. Things were still under speculation, and no one knew what would happen.

Sting had told everyone to sit down at tables in the guild while they were awaiting the results of his selections for the upcoming event, thinking that this team would be the strongest team that would definitely help Sabertooth win this year, and Lucy sat at a table with all of her friends near Sabertooth's entrance doors while Sting was behind the golden reception desk located at the back of the guild. After all of her hard work, would Sting make the unbiased decision of choosing Lucy? Did he want to see his girlfriend give it her all?

Lucy wanted the chance to prove her strength against Fairy Tail, and she had worked really hard. Her cocoa brown eyes were filled with confidence while she held the orange spell book in her hands, and the blonde mage hoped that there was also some way for her and Sting to have the grand opportunity to be in a tag-team battle. She wanted him at her side, not just watching from the sidelines during the whole thing, and Lucy had seen Sting's face when he had realized that he couldn't compete alongside her. That wouldn't be too good, right?

She didn't want him to be sad about this, and there had to be some way for the white dragon slayer to show his strength. He had even been bragging about a few new moves that he had created as well, not even have shown them off to anyone yet, and Lucy really wanted Sting to have contributed to the guild's possible win. He had some confidence in his charming blue eyes while taking in a breath of air, and he was getting ready to announce who he had selected to represent the Sabertooth guild. Even if he could not compete, Sting still wanted to support his friends.

Lucy was a little nervous about Sting calling her name, since she hadn't exactly been the strongest mage in the guild, and she wasn't the newbie anymore only because of Wendy joining the Sabertooth guild. She thought that Sting would want only the already powerful members on the team, caring only about strength for something like this, but something came as a great shock to her. The white dragon slayer calmly announced with a smile of confidence that the members of Team Sabertooth would be Rogue, Yukino, Rufus, Orga, and Lucy.

The blonde mage exclaimed excitedly, hearing her name be called by her boyfriend, "Sting, that's great! I love you so much, and I will not let you or the team down! I plan to win, and that's exactly what I'll do! We will win for you, Sting, and there has to be some way for you to be a reserve member or something! I can't do this without you, and neither can your fellow teammates! We need you on the team, Sting, instead of just cheering us on! It won't feel the same to have any victories, if you're not right by my side."

Sting looked amazed at the amount of dedication and concern that Lucy had for him, really wanting him to be alongside the team when they were announced for anything, and he blushed a bit from seeing how confident Lucy looked. She had realized that he was feeling a bit down about not being able to compete with everyone else, and Sting was glad to have a girlfriend like Lucy. She really did care for him, wanting him to work with her when they came across enemies, and her speech had really lifted Sting's spirits.

Competition was something that Sting really loved, and he knew that there would have to be some way for him to join his friends in the Grand Magic Games or the Grand Fiore League. He began to give it some thought, but he could not rush into any decision without good judgement. Lector did not want Sting to be upset, either, and the red Exceed knew that his blond friend could beat down anyone in a tournament of any kind. He thanked Lucy for her kind words, and Lector smirked a bit when he knew that Sting had found the right girl to be with.

"What's with all the silence, people? This is a time for us to be cheering, since yours truly will find a way for us all to be happy!" Sting told the silent mages with a somewhat annoyed look, before giving Orga the signal to be the DJ for some music to play and hopefully make things more lively.

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><p><strong>20 minutes later...<strong>

The entire guild of Sabertooth decided to celebrate the choosing of the team members with a party that included food, music, drinks, and a cake. While Orga was spinning the records and playing some music, Rogue was being admired by many of the girls in the guild who liked him. He would just hold their hands gently, but they would faint from how hot he was to them. This always made Frosch giggle, and it smiled happily at the fact that Rogue had been chosen once again for a chance to redeem himself. Could the shadow dragon slayer win against Gajeel, if they were chosen to fight against each other once again?

Rufus was simply enjoying the gourmet food while he was reading a book about memories, and he had been interested in Lucy's orange book like the rest of the team had been. Lucy had even shown the languages in the book to Rufus once, but he couldn't decipher a single word. The characters weren't like any language that he had memorized, and even a spell known as Memory-Make: Translate to Japanese had no effect on the pages in the orange spell book. What kind of book was Lucy wielding, anyway?

Speaking of Lucy, she sat at a table with Sting and Lector while smiling happily at the fact that the white dragon slayer had brought her a three-layered cake as her reward for giving such an inspiring speech to cheer him up. He had really wanted to thank her for really lifting his mood, and Lucy had also done it as a way of returning the favor from when Sting saved her from drowning in Runo's mud that had filled up the Desert Resort. He had saved her life, and she definitely felt like she owed him for that kind act. Even if the chocolate had tasted great, eating all of that sugary substance would just make Lucy get fat.

After all, it's not every day that a girl got to spend a great amount of time with the guy that she really liked. Lucy had gotten the 400,000 jewels from that job in the Desert Resort, giving half of the money to Sting, and he had really helped her out in that battle against Runo. Despite being tough at times, Lucy certainly did get to see Sting's sweet side. He cut a slice of the vanilla cake for himself, revealing the cake's interior to be creamy chocolate, and Sting had playfully put some vanilla frosting on Lucy's face before licking the rest off of the cake slice.

She cut a slice of cake for herself as well, putting it on the golden plate, and Lucy wiped the frosting off of her face before she tasted it. The vanilla frosting was delicious and really sweet, having an elegant sugary taste, and the chocolate cake tasted as if it was the finest chocolate in the country of Fiore. It tasted so heavenly with sugar added, making it simply delightful. Lucy cut up her second slice with a spoon, before feeding it to Sting in a cute manner like some girlfriends would do for their boyfriends.

"Thanks for making me feel better, Lucy. You're a really kind and cool girl, and getting to know you is just the most awesome thing in the world to me. Without you, I'd probably still be the same jerk from last year who was manipulated by Minerva to help Sabertooth win the Grand Magic Games. That's not the case with you, though. Instead of manipulating me, you encourage me. I couldn't ask for a better partner." Sting told her in a kind tone while making his left hand touch her right hand in an affectionate manner as he smiled while looking into her beautiful brown eyes.

Lucy responded happily while giggling a bit, blushing a light shade of pink from Sting's soft hands touching her hands, "Sting, those are the sweetest things that you have ever said to me! I only learned how to be more confident from being by your side on jobs, and I love how I'm getting to know you as well. You're such a great guy, better than Natsu or any other guy in Fairy Tail, and you really make me feel like I can do anything with courage in my heart. Sting, you're really the best boyfriend that I've ever had. You always lift me up when I'm feeling down as well, so I'm really grateful to have you in my life."

They could both feel their hearts beating from this beautiful moment that they were sharing while looking into each other's eyes, sensing the love that they had for each other, and Lucy smiled a bit from noticing that her boyfriend still had some creamy chocolate on his lips. She slowly leaned over the table, preparing to get the delicious off with a very sweet kiss that Sting would certainly share with her, but the sound of Sabertooth's entrance doors being kicked open certainly put a halt to her simple yet perfect plan.

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><p>Sting quickly turned his head to see that Team Natsu had just barged into the guild, and Natsu looked angry. What could they possibly be here for, and what could be so upsetting to them? Lucy could only wonder if they had come here to try and pick a fight with Sabertooth, since that is something reckless that Natsu would do, and she saw the flames that were engulfing his fists. She had also wondered if they had forced Wendy to tell them where she had last seen the blonde mage, as Lucy could see a regretful look on the face of the blue-haired girl. Even though Lucy was glad to see Wendy, she was not exactly happy to see the others.<p>

They were the same people who had been cruel enough to side with Natsu, letting Lucy be duped by him for thirteen months of her life, and her former friends had just let all of that time be wasted while not even being nice enough to say a single thing about the fire dragon slayer's affair with Lisanna to let Lucy know about it. Even though she had found out about the secret from hearing Natsu discuss it with Erza and Lisanna, they had still been talking behind her back while thinking that she was not around to hear their conversation. Besides, Lucy had also seen Natsu walking towards the guild with Lisanna while they had come from the beach.

It was nothing to worry about if a girl saw her boyfriend walking back to the guild by himself, but it actually was a serious matter to Lucy when she had seen that dense pink-haired jerk walking to the guild while Lisanna had rested her head on his left shoulder. The happy couple had been blushing with joy, loving the fact that they could be cuddly and romantic together, but their relationship had been formed behind Lucy's back. That was certainly being dishonest, and Natsu had even alternated between nights to keep a little schedule of his cheating. Really, how deceitful and low was he willing to go?

As Lucy focused her cocoa brown eyes on Natsu, still keeping her lips close to the ones that belonged to her new blond boyfriend, she could only shoot a harsh glare at the fire dragon slayer for being such a two-timing liar. He was the jerk from her past, the guy that she had never wanted to even see again, and the blonde girl had clenched her fists tightly. She had not been the same person who would nearly be killed in a fight by Natsu, not the same girl who would cry over not getting the love or outcome that she wanted, and Lucy would not cry over the fact that her old friends in Fairy Tail had been such backstabbers. What were they here for, anyway?

Natsu asked his ex-girlfriend in a shocked manner, taking a few steps back while his eyes could not believe what they almost witnessed as his feelings of anger were now overshadowed by shock and confusion, "Lucy, you were... seriously about to kiss the guy who is my biggest rival of all time? I really am confused as to why you're in Sabertooth, Luce. Is this really your way of getting back at me for what happened when you found out about me cheating on you? I knew that you had gone somewhere, but here?! Removing your Fairy Tail insignia is a real stab in the back, Luce. I never thought that someone like you would do something like this!"

The blonde mage narrowed her cocoa brown eyes, before replying in a tone of voice that was icy like a cold winter, "It's funny how you accuse me of stabbing you guys in the back, yet you all did that to me by taking Natsu's side. You kept his affair with Lisanna secret from me, refusing to stop be from becoming a mere plaything for that damn jerk, so what kind of friends are you? When you guys revealed what he was up to, all that really went through your minds was how much longer he could keep up this affair. You weren't even thinking of helping me, not even wanting to save me from falling to pieces, so you let me down. The Lucy that you knew is long gone, Natsu, and I've been through more than you'll ever know. Sting is my boyfriend now, a very great guy that you could never measure up to, and you're just the garbage that I don't want to see."

While Wendy and the two Exceeds had ran into the Sabertooth guild, hiding behind Rogue as they could guess that another fight was about to start, Sting had a stern look in his blue eyes while he got up out of his chair to intervene in the tense situation going on right now. The white dragon slayer was not going to accept party crashers into his guild, especially if their presences were making Lucy feel really uncomfortable, so he told them that they could choose the smart option of leaving with their heads held high or him and the others would personally get them out of the guild. Lucy already had drama from dealing with Shelly, and Sting knew that his sweet girlfriend did not want any trouble to transpire right now.

Much to everyone's shock, however, Natsu charged towards Sting before quickly delivering a fiery punch with his left hand to the white dragon slayer's face. Sting was sent sliding backwards, but he was still on his feet while he simply wiped his bruised face with some light that was generated in his right hand. His holy light had healed the damage from Natsu's attack, making the fire dragon slayer get even more enraged, and the pink-haired male delivered a slamming kick to his rival's chest! This made Sting cough up some blood, making everyone worried.

This made Lucy gasp in shock, worried for Sting, and she became even more concerned when Natsu used his Fire Dragon's Sword Horn to slam Sting into the wall before hitting him with fiery punches that made him scream in pain. Sting was burning from the heat, since Natsu was being very vicious enough to not even stop for a second, and seeing him was definitely making Lucy's blood come to a boil. She couldn't believe that Natsu was now trying to kill her new boyfriend because he told that dense idiot to leave the premises, and Lucy's building rage caused her orange spell book to emit orange beams of light from the fifth section where the Earth Magic was located.

Sting gestured at Lucy to run past the other members of Team Natsu while she still had a chance, and he smiled a bit from seeing her use the non-spell ability of lightning speed from the Lightning Magic. He thought that she had used that to flee quickly, but then something surprised him and Natsu. Lucy came in between them, a stern look on her face while anger entered her brown eyes, and her emotions kept up building up while she proceeded to start off this battle with quite a rocking rumble. Some sand would also be thrown into the mix, as payback for when Natsu had come back from the beach with Lisanna.

"Gate of the Scorpion, I open thee! First spell of Earth Magic, I create and call upon thee as well!" Lucy shouted with strong emotions in her voice while the orange spell book continued to glow, taking Natsu and Sting by surprise, as the brown-eyed girl pulled out the golden key that summoned Scorpio.

A brown boulder appeared in her left hand, and she threw it like a bowling ball towards Natsu. He evaded the attack, following up with Fire Dragon's Roar as a means of paying Lucy back for humiliating him, but Lucy's boulder rolled back around quickly to shield its blonde master from the flames. This spell turned Natsu's flames into mud, making the boulder grow in size while it rolled even faster, and it managed to strike him from behind with tremendous force. An orange blast of Earth Magic transpired, but all of its power was concentrated into one point to damage Natsu.

When the smoke cleared up, the fire dragon slayer was almost unconscious while he was down on the ground. He tried to stand up, but Lucy grabbed him by his spiky pink hair and repeatedly slammed his head against the ground with massive amounts of force for trying to hurt Sting. She also wanted payback for what Natsu had done to her as well, and she also slammed her left fist against his back with a punch that was as hard as the densest rocks in Fiore. Despite all of that, the fire dragon slayer's durability helped him stand up again.

He turned around to face Lucy, a bit shocked to see that she was in the town that was across the sea, but he was more angry with her for defending his greatest rival. He threw a large fireball at her, hating the fact that a supposed weakling got in his way, and this prompted Lucy to activate the second spell of Earth Magic. It was known as Sand Fang, and this move caused Lucy to unleash four beams of brown sand from her hands. They all took the shape of a beast's mouth, having numerous fangs, and they all bit Natsu's fireball at the same time. Scorpio even smirked confidently while using Sand Buster from his tail cannon, adding more sand to Lucy's attack for its size and pressure to increase by a large amount.

While this attack seemed mediocre, the sand mouths were eating away at the fireball while crushing it with enormous pressure. They all lunged at Natsu, determined to help their master, and the sand mouths bit down hard on his arms and legs. Natsu screamed in pain from the sand crushing his body with intense pressure, biting with a grip that kept getting tighter, and the sand began to make painful gashes in his arms and legs. He growled angrily at Lucy, not determined to let her get the best of him, but who had the stronger conviction?

Seeing no other choice, Natsu told Lucy in a harsh tone while glaring at her as flames engulfed his fists, "You're just a filthy traitor to us now, Lucy! Not only are you going against me, but you're going against everyone in Fairy Tail by being a part of Sabertooth! I could care less about the bitter feelings that you have towards me, but you're just dating Sting to make me jealous! I bet that's what your stupid plan has to be, but it's not going to work on me! I love Lisanna much more than I loved you, and she is better than you in every way!"

He charged at her while running at high speeds, his fists blazing brightly, and Natsu swung a punch at Lucy. However, she quickly leaped back and narrowed her brown eyes at him while activating the third spell that was known as Rocky Combat. Lucy's fists and bare feet became surrounded by an orange aura, and she jumped up into the air while more power was building up in the palms of her hands and on the soles of her feet. Natsu jumped high in the air above her, looking down on her in a literal and mocking sense, but Lucy waited for his descent. When he was coming down near her, Lucy dealt a powerful uppercut to his jaw.

She began to deliver a series of powerful punches and kicks to Natsu's body, really making him feel the pain that he had caused her, and Lucy felt the Earth Magic boost up her attack power with every hit. She used one last punch to catch Natsu off guard, but then Lucy grabbed Natsu's left leg before throwing him down to the ground with all of her might. The fire dragon slayer was sent smashing hard into a table, crashing right through part of a wall in the guild, and this spell had exponentially increased Lucy's strength with every hit. A 24-hit combo would certainly knock out Natsu, that's for sure.

Lucy asked and told the other four Fairy Tail mages in a heated tone while she panted a bit, looking somewhat aggressive while the orange aura surrounded her body, "Does anyone else want to try and hurt my boyfriend?! I suggest you guys leave now, before you make me angrier than you already have! Also, Cana, I don't ever want to see you again! On the day where Natsu admitted to dumping me, you acted all suspicious with me while it seemed like a certain secret was about to leave your mouth! You're not my best friend anymore, since you didn't even care about how I was hurting! In fact, none of you cared! Get out of my sight, you poor examples of true friends!"

While Lisanna went out of the Sabertooth guild to wait for her friends, Gray and Cana both stood next to Erza with respective looks of frustration and sadness on their faces. Gray was angry at Natsu for starting yet another fight with Lucy, and now it seemed like making up with her would possibly be a pipe dream. The ice mage had truly wanted to be her friend, and he was about to state that before Natsu had charged at Sting to start this mess. Really, would the fire dragon slayer not receive the grand prize for being the worst ex in the entire world?

Cana could only shed a few tears while running out of the guild, knowing that Lucy had every right to say what she had said to her, and the brown-haired woman knew that she should not have acted so secretive about something involving her best friend. In fact, Cana would not even been able to do the S-Class Trial on Tenrou Island X784 if Lucy had not volunteered to be her partner. This was just like the time that Cana had used a Sleep Card on Lucy for her own selfish actions, betraying her friend, and she had swore to never do that again. However, no one should ever make promises that could not be kept.

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><p>Erza could see the heated temper in Lucy's brown eyes, the orange aura around her body giving off a tremendous amount of magical power, and the scarlet-haired woman just had to wonder why she was sensing this animosity from Lucy. The blonde mage had every right to hate Natsu for the things that he did, but she really hated him to such a degree where her emotions were strengthening her level of power by this much? Erza knew there was no way for her to stop this level of power, and she motioned for Gray to try and cool Lucy down with some ice.<p>

The ice mage gulped a bit with some worry in his dark blue eyes, as he unleashed ten large ice shards to try and freeze Lucy, but she unleashed the fourth spell of Earth Magic to end things here. This spell was known as Muddy Bombs, and the effect caused Lucy to spit ten blobs of brown mud from her mouth. When one made contact with an ice shard, a large orange blast of energy would occur with the side effect of leaving behind sand that would enter Lucy's hands to give her some more energy and defensive power.

As the fourth spell had taken a lot out of Lucy, she had managed to cool down and pant heavily while Erza asked nicely, "Wow, Lucy. You're dating Sting? He's taking good care of you, right?"

Lucy responded kindly while glaring over at Natsu and eating a piece of the wall that had fallen apart, restoring her energy with Earth Magic, "Yeah, he's the best boyfriend that I've ever had. Sting is the greatest guy ever, and he was really sweet when we had our first kiss. By the way, have you heard of the thief from Aqua Kyogre named Shelly Izumi? She is my rival now, and I will not let her flirt with Sting or kiss him!" (Notice how she is competitive with a user of Water Magic, and it's a reverse of Juvia being intense against Lucy because of Gray?)

Gray had gone over to Natsu for him to apologize to Lucy for the conflict that he started with her, but the fire dragon slayer could only be frozen with shock like when he had found out that Lucy had joined Sabertooth. Natsu couldn't believe what he heard, and he couldn't believe what he was seeing when the white dragon slayer walked over to Lucy. He was unharmed, fully healed like Natsu never damaged him, and this was most likely because of him eating the light from Lucy's energy blasts. They certainly did have healing properties for a dragon slayer like him, and Natsu nearly felt like fainting when he saw Lucy and Sting share a soft kiss of victory while Scorpio's gate had now closed.

Natsu dropped his jaw at the fact that he had not only lost Lisanna, but the girl that he tried to make jealous had actually moved on from him. Lucy wasn't even moping over Natsu like he thought she had been doing, and he would probably never believe that she had a female rival who made him look like an easy opponent. The pain from the third spell made Natsu clutch his chest tightly while his arms and legs were in excruciating pain, and Gray sighed in an annoyed manner while deciding to carry Natsu on his back. Erza also felt bad for the disturbance that Fairy Tail had caused, since it seemed like Sabertooth was trying to have a peaceful party, prompting Titania to leave Sting with a hammer made out of rocks that had been gathering dust in her inventory. The Rock Hammer could create and mold rocks to fix buildings, rather than destroying them, and all it took was one strike on or through the areas of damage.

While Erza and her team walked away from the Sabertooth guild, having supposedly failed utterly in their missions from Erza's viewpoint on the situation, Sting asked Lucy as he looked pretty curious, "Hey, Lucy. Instead of ending it so quick, couldn't you have just healed me first and let me handle Natsu afterwards?"

"You know how much I don't like Natsu for what he did, and I wasn't even using my full power to beat him down into the ground where his low attitude is located. The Grand Magic Games is where this will all finally be settled, or maybe it'll all end for Natsu in the Grand Fiore League." Lucy replied coldly with a harsh look in her brown eyes, before trying to brush her dark thoughts aside and enjoy the fact that she was now on the competing team for the guild that was run by the guy who could always make her present and future better than her past.

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 14? Did you like it? Sorry about the three-day delay. College is a pain. Sting and Lucy have gotten more development in their relationship, and they keep getting cuter! Sorry about Sting not fighting Natsu, but that will happen later in the story. However, he will show off his moves before that happens. Anyway, will Lisanna get suspicious of seeing Natsu being nursed by a certain spy? Will someone's guilt make them try to regain Lucy's trust, especially when this person meets her friend's fated rival? <strong>Standby for the update!<strong>**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 15: Trust Has To Be Earned<strong>

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><p>After two weeks had passed since Sting had announced who would be the team that would represent the Sabertooth guild in the Grand Magic Games or Grand Magic League, Sting was sitting down at a white patio table outside of a cafe in Rustboro Town with Lucy sitting across from him. They were both starting off their morning with breakfast, respectively eating a plate of chocolate chip pancakes and a plate of waffles covered in maple syrup, and Sting had spent his time smiling kindly at Lucy while he ate his pancakes.<p>

She had saved him from Natsu's flames two weeks ago when the fire dragon slayer and his former crew had come looking for the spell book, and Lucy was really angry with Natsu for trying to hurt her new boyfriend. She had showed that jerk how he wasn't going to be a major part on the good end of her love life, and Natsu was the ex that the blonde mage really found to be intolerable. He had also continued to underestimate her, really irritating Lucy on that day, and Natsu really had no right to look down when she had nearly destroyed him once before.

While Lucy cut up her waffles, taking a big piece into her mouth, she frowned a bit while thinking about her old friends. It was bad enough that they had betrayed her by keeping Natsu's affair from her for thirteen months, making her be misled by the fire dragon slayer, but did they have to come to the Sabertooth guild while Sting had just been throwing a peaceful party? Even if Happy had given away the fact that his trio had encountered Lucy, did her former friends really have to cross paths with her? She wanted nothing to do with them, you know.

As Lucy ate that piece of the golden waffle, tasting its crunchiness and sweetness, she also gave some thought to the fact that Cana had shown up with Natsu and the others. She had assumed that Erza persuaded Cana into joining the search team, maybe because of the saying that there was strength in numbers, but the card mage was one of the people that Lucy really detested right now. When so much is done to help a best friend try and achieve their goal, shouldn't they help the person who helped them? It would've been great if Cana had just told Lucy what had been going on, but she did not. Lucy felt like scowling right now, tightly clutching the spell book in her left hand, and the blonde mage's anger could easily strengthen her spells.

She had opened up the orange spell book a few days ago to see that the other four spells of Earth Magic had been written, since her defenses and fierceness had become powerful and tough like the hardest rocks to break, and Lucy had also been gaining physical strength from using the Earth Magic. It didn't just involve manipulating the earth for attacks and defenses, but it made her punches and kicks become tough like the Earth Magic that Jura could create. She could even break through boulders with one punch now, greatly impressing Sting with the fact that their levels of strength were now at the same level.

Speaking of impressing him, the white dragon slayer had also taken a liking to Lucy's outfit today. She wore a simple blue T-shirt with a white miniskirt, and her flat shoes were forest green. She had a blue ribbon in her blonde hair as well, tying it in a ponytail on the right side, and Sting definitely thought that his girlfriend looked pretty fashionable. Lucy had been buying many outfits in Rustboro's fashion district with some of the money from all the jobs that she did with Sting, and her fashion sense definitely made Sting love her even more.

He loved her fashion just as much as her passion for wanting to become a much stronger mage, and Sting had smirked a bit with confidence in his charming blue eyes while there was a brown flyer on the table. It was between him and Lucy, and Sting had found something a bit odd about this job. It was not all that weird in a bad way, but it just stunned him a bit before he shook off the shock by eating another one of his pancakes. Lucy curiously looked down at the flyer, seeing the reward for 700,000 jewels, but the client's name made her gasp and seem surprised.

Cana Alberona, Lucy's partner during the S-Class Promotion Trial that was held on Tenrou Island back in the year X784, had put up an interesting job request. She had wanted someone in Fiore to help her out with a job that she could not complete alone in the town of Mintochoko, and the brown-haired mage had said in the flyer how she was dealing with a tough member from Aqua Kyogre. The flyer had unexpectedly been delivered to the Sabertooth guild, much to the dismay of Lucy, but Sting thought that this job had to have a tough enemy if Cana was having trouble taking them down.

While the white dragon slayer was pretty thrilled about taking this job, his girlfriend was certainly not thrilled about having to help someone that she could no longer trust. Cana had totally betrayed Lucy by not telling her about the affair that had greatly impacted her previous relationship, simply letting the brown-eyed girl's heart get broken into pieces, but Lucy did not even know that her former friend had felt bad about what she had done. Cana had wanted to apologize, but Lucy's icy speech had simply driven the violet-eyed girl to tears.

"I know that you're on bad terms with Cana, Lucy, but I also know that a part of you does not want her to get severely hurt. Dealing with anyone from Aqua Kyogre is pretty serious business, even if they're just grunts, and she could have had the bad luck of running into Shelly. Look, Lucy. You may not exactly be cool with Cana, but I also know that you're not cool with Shelly and her crew causing trouble all over Fiore. If we don't do anything to help, then Cana will be toast. You don't have to trust her on this job, but please trust me." Sting told his girlfriend in a calm manner, giving her a pep talk to help Lucy see that she could make this situation better by prioritizing one conflict over the other.

Lucy responded in an accepting manner, slowly turning her scowl into a soft smile of confidence while she looked at her kind boyfriend, "All right, Sting. I'll go on this job with you, and your words have really made me remember why I have to get stronger. The conflict with Natsu and the others does push me to do better, that's something I'll admit, but my new conflict with Shelly pushes me to do even better than before! Last time, our match ended in a draw. That doesn't satisfy me, since I still did not officially defeat her, but she'll go down this time!"

Sting was glad to see that Lucy had now decided to stop Shelly, rather than thinking about not trusting Cana, and the blond male smirked a bit while knowing that his girlfriend could win this time. If wind and lightning could not stop Shelly, then how powerful was Lucy's rival? Her defenses could not be torn through easily, that was true, but Lucy' new Earth Magic had given her such high amounts of strength. Sting had the feeling that his sweet girlfriend could break down Shelly's watery walls, but would Lucy's new toughness truly help her win?

Lucy giggled a bit from seeing Sting eat so fast, and she decided to eat her waffles on the way to Mintochoko Town where Cana would be waiting. As Lucy stuffed the waffles into her mouth, before chewing her food, she didn't even see that the orange spell book that she held tightly in her left hand had begun to faintly pulsate with an orange glow once again. As the two mages got up from their seats, Lucy knew that taking down Shelly was something that only she would be able to do. Their rivalry was a very tense one, especially due to Shelly telling Wendy that she would kiss Sting. Girls could definitely fight over a guy, and the fact that they were complete opposites didn't make things better.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, at a cafe in another town...<strong>

The town of Mintochoko was known for its many chocolate desserts, making it a very sweet place for anyone to visit, and Cana sat down at a black patio table while she was seemingly reading a newspaper as well. She wore some sunglasses with blue frames and a cute blue hat as well, most likely being in disguise for some strange reason, and the card mage narrowed her purple eyes while they kept shifting back and forth between her left and right sides. If she was supposed to be on a job, why did she have to do it in such a weird way?

Cana wasn't actually trying to be weird to the people who were passing by the cafe, but she was actually on the lookout for two certain people. One of them was the person who would be coming to her aid on this job, helping her with a task that would be difficult, and the other person she watched out for was the danger itself. She had not told the Fairy Tail guild about this, not wanting to get any of her friends involved in a war against another dark guild in Fiore, and Cana had just hoped that the enemy would be someone that wouldn't be putting another huge target on the guild of Fairy Tail.

She had been on the lookout for the infamous thief named Shelly Izumi, having a description of how this villain had looked, and Cana had simply planned to stall Shelly until her backup would arrive on the scene. Of course, the brown-haired mage had clearly not heard the rumors of Shelly's power. She could pretty much shape her Water Magic into very destructive and creative spells for both offense and defense, making her a really big threat to anyone who opposed her. Shelly was not to be messed with, and the only person that she had tolerated from Fairy Tail was Wendy.

There had been a flyer in the guild that stated Shelly was in this town right now, possibly here to steal some kind of item that was very vital to Aqua Kyogre, but could a card mage like Cana possibly be the one to stop her? She did have different cards that let her wield various types of magic, that was surely true, but was the brown-haired girl really a good match for Shelly? Even the strongest cards that Cana owned might not be enough to break through Shelly's defensive water sphere that possibly negated all attacks, so just using power alone would be a really bad strategic move.

As Cana took her eyes off of the newspaper, she looked a bit sad while thinking about how Lucy had been suffering so much. The purple-eyed girl could not get Lucy's speech out of her head, sad to know that they were no longer friends at all, and Cana had to admit that she was at fault for going along with Natsu's plan. Lucy had felt broken while knowing that her first boyfriend had been playing her like a sap, and Cana felt really guilty as she knew that Lucy's must've felt hurt and alone. She had wanted to help someone who had felt really heartbroken by being cheated on, but Cana knew that her refusal to do anything had just made things become much worse.

"Wow, Cana. Some friend you truly are. I could've been there to help Lucy when she needed me, but I just stood by and did nothing. Every single day, I kept on watching her be unaware of the fact that Natsu had just been using her as a tool while his real feelings of love were towards Lisanna. It's frustrating how I know that Lucy was being my friend, always being so nice, and her anger towards me is very reasonable. It stems from the fact that I did not even open up the door of honesty for her, and all that I truly managed to do was help Natsu and Lisanna slam it right in her face."

A feminine voice replied in a condescending tone, giggling a bit at the fact that the brown-haired mage had to express her guilt aloud for everyone to hear, "That truly does sound like a bad thing for a good friend to do, and it pretty much sounds like you're nothing more than a backstabber. If you were partly the reason that Lucy Heartfilia left Fairy Tail, as my inside spy has told me that you were, then you would only agree with the plans of deceiving her because you don't really see her as a friend. Deep down, you hurt her so badly because you felt utterly threatened by her."

Cana slowly turned around with a shocked look on her face to see Shelly, the criminal that she had to bring down in this town, and the purple-eyed girl stood up while shaking a bit from how Shelly smirked evilly at her. She also found it weird how Shelly got inside her mind like that, making Cana begin to really question why she had joined Natsu's plan from the very start, but Cana never had any feelings of envy towards Lucy. Still, having a spy from Aqua Kyogre in the guild of Fairy Tail was not okay. Also, the fact that Shelly knew some of Lucy's emotional history was enough to make Cana wonder how those two were tied together.

She took a few steps back, not wanting to get too close with the woman who wore only a dark blue lacy bra and dark blue lacy panties while she was also barefoot, and Cana had to think about her strategy for this fight. Not knowing any of Shelly's abilities wasn't really good, and it also was not good that the card mage was dealing with one of the top commanders in the guild of Aqua Kyogre. This was a pretty bad match-up, probably a meeting that even Mavis would not want to see in the Grand Magic Games, and it was getting more tense for Cana while she noticed Shelly creating a sphere of water around herself to purposely get wet.

Seeing no other option right now, Cana glared at her opponent while pulling out her deck of 52 cards from the left pocket of her brown pants. She decided to use the Wooden Log Card first, holding it up in the air with her right hand while it glowed to produce three wooden logs in midair. They all flew towards Shelly, about to strike her with the power from their possibly harsh impact with her, but Shelly didn't even dodge. She just stood there while maintaining the smirk on her face, and the water on the ground around her had simply turned into a large wall of icicles. They had been tough like glacial ice, not easy to break, and the wooden logs had exploded from their harsh impact with the stalagmites of ice.

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><p><strong>20 minutes later, in another part of Mintochoko Town...<strong>

Sting and Lucy had arrived in the town of Cioccolato, a place that was located in the northern part of Fiore, and they both took notice of the shops selling many desserts in the flavor of chocolate. There were even warm plates of chocolate chip cookies on sale at the merchant shops, and hot chocolate was also being sold at a high price. This place had been thriving off of its desserts to keep on getting tons of money, but it wasn't in a distant land. Lucy shivered a bit from the cold air that came from a nearby bakery that was obviously hardening the chocolate, and Sting smiled while they walked down the paved street.

He loved to hold hands with Lucy, and the white dragon slayer knew that they could have some fun while being on this job. Sting noticed that his girlfriend was smiling confidently, ready to stop Shelly from trying to steal anything in this town, and he had a calm look in his blue eyes while knowing that Lucy would give Shelly a good fight once again. Those two had pretty much been great rivals, possibly going to end up being two sides of the same coin in the Grand Magic Games, and Sting had definitely noticed that the girls were total opposites of each other.

Even though Lucy was glad to be doing a job like this in such a sweet town, the blonde girl had been hoping that Cana would not be trying to get in her way of stopping Shelly. Lucy knew that her rival was very powerful, never having battled her to a true conclusion yet, and she knew that even Natsu would get beaten to a pulp by Shelly. That woman was a true expert with Water Magic, shaping its properties to make it be scalding or hardening at times, and Lucy knew that it would take some true ingenuity to psych out someone who could make her abilities have so much versatility.

While he narrowed his blue eyes at the situation involving a villain like Shelly, Sting's eyes were met with what appeared to be chocolate and peanut butter brownies. Lucy had bought a plate of them from a nearby bakery stand that had just started its business hours, and she smiled happily while putting one into her mouth. There was hot steam coming from the brownies as well, allowing their sweet smell to reach Sting's nostrils, and he arrogantly grinned while taking one of the eleven remaining warm brownies from the plate. With Lucy's sweet treats at his side, this mission would probably not be as tense as Sting imagined it to be.

Sting even noticed that the town had an entire museum dedicated to all of the types of chocolate in the country of Fiore, and he could tell that this job would have its good points. Even if Cana would be no match for Shelly at all, that would just give Sting and Lucy the chance to take care of the job for her. They would be showing off their superior skills, making Sabertooth get the great amount of recognition from the people of this large town, and it would simply be another loss for Fairy Tail. Whether Cana would badly lose or get trampled on by the crazy fans of Sabertooth, it would be her karma for not helping Lucy when she felt so broken because of Natsu's betrayal.

As Sting and Lucy both took brownies from the plate, eating them before they were going to share a great kiss that would taste like chocolate and peanut butter, both mages looked shocked to hear an explosion of some kind transpiring somewhere in the town. There wasn't anything to celebrate today, and fireworks could not really be good to be used in the daytime. The sounds of a building being destroyed could be heard, and Sting's enhanced hearing also managed to pick up the sounds of someone groaning in pain. If that was Cana, then Lucy was definitely right. Shelly's tendency to not show mercy had never been dealt with by Fairy Tail, and one of their current members was getting a firsthand look at the toughness of Aqua Kyogre's most beautiful and most powerful female.

"It sounds like somebody is in trouble, Lucy, and we can't let any innocent people get hurt here. Someone is using magic to do something, and they're doing it only in one area of the town. Let's go there, and see what exactly is going on. It could be a fight going on between Cana and Shelly, but things don't sound too well for your former friend. Anyway, let's go show Shelly that the sabers do what the fairies fail to do." Sting explained to his girlfriend in a calm manner while he began to look stern at the sight of a third explosion taking place.

Lucy responded with a confident facial expression, speaking in an ambitious tone of voice, "You're right, Sting! Let's go check this out, and see if Shelly is making Cana take a beating! There's a saying that says the enemy of my enemy is my friend, but I will really have to see which one of them will be more of an enemy to me today!"

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><p>It was interesting to note that Lucy had mentioned Cana because the card mage was actually the one clashing with the rival of the Celestial Wizard. Her attack spells had made a lot of smoke appear, but it all cleared up quickly to reveal that her opponent had taken no damage from her attacks. Cana groaned in frustration from the sight of Shelly using her Water Magic to make her stalagmites turn into large spikes of hot water, but the tanned woman surprisingly made the numerous amount of watery spikes go towards herself. Cana could see the steam from the stalagmites, smirking while she thought that Shelly would end this by hurting herself, but fate would say otherwise.<p>

The scalding hot stalagmites of water slammed themselves down on Shelly, giving her a hot bath that didn't even leave any burns of her tanned skin, and she had a confident look in her blue eyes while a thick cloud of steam formed around the entire battlefield. Walking through the steam in quiet steps, Shelly knew that Cana could not attack or defend with her cards if she did not have enough distance to throw them. She was planning to stop messing around, really ready to show the brown-haired girl how someone from Aqua Kyogre handled a pest who was in the way, and Shelly would also get back at her for being so rude to start a fight for no real reason.

As Cana could see Shelly coming towards her through the smoke, she was suddenly caught off guard by a harsh kick to the stomach! Shelly's kick had sent the card mage sliding backwards, but that was nothing compared to Shelly's powerful punches. She struck Cana hard in the face, before punching her hard in the chest, and the purple-eyed woman screamed in pain when her opponent jumped high into the air to come down on her with a powerful body slam. Cana was unable to get Shelly off of her, feeling her legs become frozen ice while Shelly pulled an icicle out of her mouth. It made her now have cold breath, exhaling the coldness on to Cana's legs, and that was causing her to sneeze from how the cold air affected her iced legs.

However, this was only a little taste of Shelly's revenge. She placed her left hand on Cana's frozen left leg, and scalding hot water emerged from the palm of her left hand. It had quickly defrosted her left leg while the black-haired woman melted the ice around Cana's right leg as well, but the card mage screamed in agony from the fact that her opponent was using far too much hot water. It was burning right through her brown pants, making redness occur on her skin, and Shelly could even make the water travel up Cana's body to burn her arms and her stomach area. Shelly was quite a sadist to anyone who ruined her day, wouldn't you agree?

While the brown-haired woman was struggling to even move her body, Shelly slammed her right foot down on Cana's stomach. She could hear some of her opponent's bones crack, causing Cana to scream loudly while letting her pain be known, and Shelly smirked evilly at the sight of her opponent coughing up blood. Despite the fact that Cana was not a good opponent for her, the tanned female top commander of Aqua Kyogre found pleasure in destroying anyone who would try to ruin her day. Also, starting a fight with Shelly had definitely made it seem like Cana's guilt made her have a death wish.

Shelly had lifted Cana up into the air, now having her left hand tightly gripped around the younger girl's neck, and the black-haired woman simply threw her away like a piece of trash. Shelly had thrown Cana with tremendous force, sending her crashing through the wall of a bakery, but that wasn't the end of it. Shelly had also fired a large scalding hot beam of water from her mouth, and it struck Cana directly while creating a large blue blast of Water Magic that turned the bakery into a pile of rubble. Shelly had even thought about annihilating the rubble to end her opponent's life, but what fun would that be?

Under the large pile of rubble, Cana could only let tears run down her face while she was laying down in the dirt that was now wet from Shelly's attack. She just wasn't even strong enough to really even land a hit against Shelly, not even able to make a single bruise be on her skin, and Cana had truly seen this as karma for not trying to apologize to Lucy when she had seen her at the Sabertooth guild. Even if her best friend had been really angry about the fact that an affair had been kept from her for almost seven months, the least that Cana could do is try to make up for not doing anything to help Lucy's situation.

She knew that defeating the antagonist from Aqua Kyogre might be impossible right now, even knowing that she could lose her life in a tough fight like this, but Cana clenched her fists and bit down on her lower lip while knowing that she had to make things right with Lucy. The brown-haired girl managed to get hold of the Teleportation Card, a nifty card that would let her be warped to anywhere in the world, but Cana refused to run away. She simply teleported out from under the rubble, deciding to now be standing across from Shelly at a far distance, and Cana panted heavily while knowing that her body would end giving out at any moment because of all the damage that she had taken.

As Cana had given up hope of her helpers even reaching this place to step in on this fight, she and Shelly heard a familiar female voice shout in a confident tone, "I call upon thee, the fifth spell! Rocky Detonation!"

This spell caused the rubble of the first destroyed building near Shelly to be surrounded by an orange aura, and every piece of the damaged building began to float upward from the ground. Shelly looked a bit confused from seeing not only large pieces of rubble in the air, but small pieces as well. When one of them was sent flying towards her, she simply laughed it off. However, even the smallest piece of rubble made a powerful explosion of Earth Magic. She was sent sliding backwards, only to met with all the other chunks of earth causing bigger explosions in a chain sequence with more power involved.

Cana turned around slowly to see that Lucy and Sting had arrived, the two people who had definitely known what Shelly could be capable of, and the violet-eyed girl took a few steps while she could easily assume that they had taken the job request that she sent out. Even though it had ended up reaching the guild of Sabertooth, Cana was very thankful to now have some backup here to assist her. She could see the angry look in Lucy's cocoa brown eyes, knowing full well that the anger was partly directed at her, but the rest of it was all meant for Shelly to take.

The smoke cleared up to reveal that Shelly had definitely taken damage from those attacks, now being bruised up from those powerful strikes, and the black-haired woman gave Lucy a stern glare while she noticed that her blonde rival had crossed paths with her once again. While Shelly wiped some blood off of her left arm, noticing that one of the rocky explosions had torn through her skin, she narrowed her blue eyes from seeing that Lucy was against her once again. Would she really be soft enough to now side with Cana, or was Lucy just attacking Shelly to show her how much stronger she had become?

The tanned woman had decided to distract Lucy by unleashing some bubbles from her mouth, and they headed straight for the blonde mage. However, Lucy called upon the power of the sixth spell to counter Shelly's projectiles with a move known as Stone Slam. This spell caused a nearby large chunk of rubble to break apart into smaller pieces, and the ground also began to crack for the spell to work. More chunks of earth rose up from underground, circling around Lucy in a fast manner like a means of defense, and Lucy continued to have that fierceness in her cocoa brown eyes while they now became narrowed at Shelly. She could command the stones with simple thoughts, telling some of them to strike the villain directly, and Cana was amazed at Lucy's level of strategy.

While it seemed mediocre, the stones had enough power to create large orange blasts of Earth Magic that were on par with the power of Shelly's bubbles to be canceled out because of the density of Shelly's attacks. The black-haired woman smirked a bit while she could see that Lucy had gotten stronger, having made two spells in a row be really great, and Lucy's remaining stones struck her directly with intense amounts of power. They sent Shelly falling to the ground, feeling tons of pain from the stones that had now turned into sand, and the antagonist began to growl in anger at the sight of her rival beginning to smile like she was now close to winning.

Lucy put her palms together while the light brown dust swirled around her in a circle, and the large pieces of rubble began to turn brown like the sand. They soon broke apart, letting loose large amounts of sand to create a huge tidal wave that would slam down on to Shelly, but Lucy's eyes widen in shock to see that her opponent ran straight for the attack! It was known as Sand Burial because of the waves enormous pressure that would hit the opponent directly, and Lucy gasped in amazement at the sight of Shelly jumping into a puddle that she had created in her fight with Cana. This was a continuation of that battle, however, since Lucy was just helping out her enemy.

The massive tidal wave of sand had slammed down hard on the street, covering the ground in dense sand that would crush anything under it with an enormous amount of pressure, but many people in the town had managed to evade it by running inside stores and going to nearby streets. Lucy narrowed her brown eyes while knowing that Shelly had evaded that massive move, wanting to really score a win against her villainous rival, and the blonde mage had figured that her final spell would definitely bring this battle to an end.

As the orange spell book began to glow with Lucy's fierceness building up inside her, she looked in the book and smiled at what the final spell of Earth Magic could do. It was simply known as Roaring Earth, possibly a variation of the Earth Dragon's Roar that Suna could probably use, and the spell caused the orange aura to once again surround Lucy's body. She felt more power than before, almost like she was absorbing the hardness of the ground through the soles of her feet, and Lucy sprang up high into the sky. Whatever she had used to create this spell, would it be a really great move?

She came back down with tremendous force, causing an earthquake to occur in Mintochoko Town for seven minutes, and the earthquake was powerful enough to have its seismic waves head mostly towards the end of the street. The ground on Vanilluxe Street began to break apart, rumbling around several stores, and the sandy earth exploded in a massive orange blast after a few moments. Several rocks were sent flying high into the sky, soaring to the heavens before they fell down to faraway places with their impacts making more blasts of Earth Magic transpire, but Shelly was nowhere to be found. Where had the black-haired woman gone to?

Suddenly, Lucy and Sting heard the soft footsteps of someone walking up to them from behind. Shelly had emerged from some water that had spilled from a pot when a chef had dropped it while Lucy's earthquake had been going on, the black-haired woman glaring at Lucy for not even asking about what had been going on, and Shelly really found it pathetic of Lucy to handle a job request from someone that she had hated now. Had the blonde mage now been biased to always see Shelly as an enemy, when she was actually the one who was nearly struck first by Cana's wooden logs?

"Let me explain something to you, Lucy, if you know how to understand what I say. Your stupid enemy named Cana had tried to attack me when I was on my way to the hot springs of Mintochoko, and I was also going to buy some cute clothes as well. It isn't exactly wrong for me to input a comment into someone who says their thoughts aloud, but Cana was saying how all that she had done was cause you an immense amount of pain because of what happened with Natsu. A real best friend would not help the person who had not even offered forgiveness for being part of a backstabber's deceitful plan, so think with your head and not with your heart. Actually, let me give you a bit of punishment for bruising me up today. Your punishment, though, is someone else's reward for being nice enough to not ruin my day." Shelly told Lucy in a stern tone, frowning at her rival for going into a battle with only assumptions while not having known which side had instigated the battle.

Lucy looked curious about what Shelly meant by giving her a little punishment that would be someone else's reward, and the brown-eyed girl widened her eyes in shock from seeing Shelly walk towards Sting in a way that was meant to seduce him. She took a few peanut butter cookies off of the plate to quickly eat them, despite the fact that sweets would make her get hyper from the effects of the sugar, and the blue-eyed woman gently put her hands on Sting's warm cheeks. He was looking scared from feeling the wetness of her hands, feeling the heat from the scalding hot water that she drenched herself in, and Shelly gave a soft kiss to his lips.

She had made the water on her lips change to being sticky, letting her kiss Lucy's boyfriend for at least 75 seconds, and Shelly would not let Sting pull away from her. When he tried moving backwards, she had just kept pressing her body against his. The deriding look in Shelly's blue eyes was telling Lucy that they were in two different leagues of fighting experience, as well as romantic experience, and Lucy could not believe what was happening. She was not about to lose another boyfriend, especially not wanting to lose him to someone so villainous like Shelly, and Lucy ran behind her to pull her body away from Sting's.

Knowing that Lucy had gone through a lot, as well as not wanting to see her get hurt anymore, Cana narrowed her violet eyes while throwing a Magnet Card between Shelly and Sting. This card was weird, since it could make people be stuck to metal objects like they were powerful magnets, and and its effect made Sting's body become surrounded by a white light. It was not White Drive, since he had not activated Dragon Force, and the blond male smirked arrogantly while feeling himself be pulled away from the lips of Shelly. Their kiss was now broken, as Shelly's 75-second act of revenge had reached its end, and many people saw Sting be sent flying all the way into the museum. He landed on an exhibit known as Earthland's Largest Chocolate Bar, and it smelled great while still being wrapped in golden tin foil.

While Lucy had now been trying to strangle Shelly from the front, as Cana had now planned to try and punch the top female commander of Team Aqua from behind, both girls were shocked to hear Shelly giggle while her stomach rumbled loudly. This tended to happen, only when she ate too many sweets in one day, and Cana could not back away fast enough from the flatulence of the antagonist. Shelly had let out a large amount of gas, before using the blue smoke clouds to turn into pure water while flowing down into a crevice of the damaged street, leaving Cana coughing while she could not believe how karma was still being against her.

"Lucy, look, I'm so very sorry for not doing anything when you were being fooled by Natsu and Lisanna. I know that you may not even consider me as a friend for not even helping you, and I will gladly take all the anger that you have for me. After all, I was a totally bad friend to you and earning back your trust is something that has to be done! I'll earn it back in any way possible, Lucy, even if you want me to sabotage Natsu's dates with Lisanna. Having you as a friend is something more valuable than any affair, and I don't want to lose my best partner. You've always been good to me, and I got Sting away from that woman to show you that I'm on your side." Cana told the blonde mage in an apologetic manner, looking full of regret while feeling utterly horrible about her past actions.

Lucy replied in a reproving manner, narrowing her cocoa brown eyes while she heard Cana's pleas, "You were a pretty bad friend to me, Cana, and it's pathetic how you just assumed that my rival was going to do something bad in this town. You know, not all members of a dark guild act constantly act evil. Shelly has a life, just like everyone else, and you ruined her day. If you didn't get suspicious enough to make that flyer, Sting and I never would've had to come here. She kissed my boyfriend, as payback for me really being the idiot to help someone who betrayed me. You'll definitely have to earn my trust back, Cana, and I'm not immature enough to mess with Natsu's relationship. It's better to be above the level of idiocy, rather than stoop down to being low, and you also really reek of Shelly's sweets. If you'll excuse me, I have a boyfriend to find."

Even though Lucy had used the other four spells of Earth Magic, it wasn't exactly heroic to stop Shelly from simply shopping in town. After all, the best villains knew how to act normal in public. Lucy and Sting had really came to this town for the purpose of Cana not being able to finish what she had started, and the card mage felt utterly awful about what she had done. Earning Lucy's trust back would be a tough thing to do, since friendships could not be easily fixed, and the brown-haired girl knew that her opportunity to make things right would be waiting for her in the Grand Magic Games or the Grand Fiore League. While Lucy had walked off to find Sting, Cana knew that she would have to wash off the sense of failure to clear her mind and focus on restoring her friendship with the Celestial Spirit Wizard.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

Natsu had been bandaged up once again, mainly because of the fact that he had received harsh injuries from his second battle against Lucy, and the fire dragon slayer's mouth had been covered up because it hurt for him to try and move his jaw. Lucy gave him some powerful punches to the face for trying to hurt her new boyfriend, and she had every right to bring pain down upon the jerk who had cheated on her while had also tried to keep it a secret. (I know that this one reason is emphasized so much in this story, but it is a romance. However, don't fret. Natsu will have a new conflict coming up.)

He still had a miffed look in his eyes while managing to burn away the bandages on his mouth with some flames, but Lucy beating him down was not really the whole reason for him being mad. Natsu was actually angry about the fact that his ex had now found comfort with his biggest rival, Sting Eucliffe, and he could not erase the image of them kissing from his memory. Natsu had never thought that Lucy would go over to Sabertooth, interestingly dating the guy who had let out a laugh at her getting tortured by Minerva in the Naval Battle last year, but the pink-haired male had never taken into account that he was the cause of her shifting over to the rival guild.

If Natsu had just been honest with Lucy when he first felt a connection with Lisanna, then he could've let the blonde girl know that they had to break up. Even if Lucy would be shocked, was being truthful not seen as a better option than being a deceitful liar? Cheating was not the best way to get out of a relationship, especially since Lucy had thought about taking her own life, and Natsu had been wrong to criticize his ex in their first battle. Even though he had admonished her for helping out people from the guild of Sabertooth, Natsu was not going to get a free pass to total happiness. Lucy's departing speech made sure of that, since almost everyone was now against him.

As he laid down in bed, hardly even able to move, Natsu took notice of someone slowly opening the door to his room in the guild's infirmary. Lisanna had already given him a kiss on the cheek while knowing that he'd most likely be in top shape for the Grand Magic Games and the Grand Fiore League, so who could possibly be wanting to see the fire dragon slayer? If it was Erza, then she would only be scold him for being stupid enough to make the same impulsive mistake once again. However, Natsu gasped in shock from seeing a much friendlier face.

It was Marina, wearing a cute pink nurse's hat with a pink shirt that showed off some of her ample cleavage, and she also wore a nice red miniskirt to go with it. Natsu thought that he had really died and gone to heaven right now, as he saw the teal-haired girl smile cutely at him, and all that he could do was lay in bed while she ran over to his side. Marina had planned to change his bandages, knowing that they might get dirty while time was passing, but she had a much better idea. Natsu had been sleeping earlier while Lisanna had brought a tray of hot spaghetti for him to eat, placing it on the table next to him, and she had planned to feed him when she got back from helping Mira run the bar while Marina had been absent.

"Well, it looks like you must love being in bed. I had heard all about how Lucy beat you down the first time, wiping the floor with you while she used Fire Magic, but now it looks like she gave you a real beating. I'd say that it was stupid of you to go after Lucy, which it really was, and you really should not have tried acting so macho with her. In fact, I think that your attitude towards Lucy will eventually make you look less hot. I know how you love being admired by Lisanna, but you can only keep her for so long." Marina told Natsu with a smile on her face while she spoke in a scheming manner, messing with his head once again.

He had never given it any real thought, not really considering the outcome of Lisanna scolding him soon for what he had done, and Natsu knew that their seven-month anniversary was coming up. He just had to eat some flames from things that were burning, most likely to help him recover at a fast rate, and Natsu knew that he could not miss that day. Lisanna was going to help him celebrate it, having a large cake in mind as well, and the lovely couple would even throw a great party to help everyone be prepared for the Grand Magic Games. However, could Natsu truly keep Lisanna as his girlfriend or did he need love from a bad girl like Marina?

"If I can't keep her, Marina, then I want to try and move on to someone who is her opposite in many ways. You're so sexy and cool, so very good in bed, and I want to pleasure you like how I did a few weeks ago." Natsu replied in a calm manner, still finding it hard to move his body.

For the sake of her scheme going all the way through to the end, Marina could tell that she had gained Natsu's trust. It sounded like he had truly wanted to be loyal to her, wanting to love her if things would fail with Lisanna, and Marina smiled softly at the fact that Natsu could not sniff out her major act of bringing more discord to his life. She leaned down to kiss Natsu on the lips for a moment, making herself blush pink to look beautiful for the gullible male, and her cute giggle was like soothing music to Natsu's ears.

However, as he was now having fun, little did Natsu know that Lisanna had accidentally left a Lacrima Audio Crystal under his bed in the infirmary. He really should have watched what he had said in that moment, even now telling Marina that she was so very beautiful, and let's just say that his time in bed with the teal-haired spy was bound to come when he least expected it. Natsu was definitely getting his feelings of lust to shift towards Marina, but his feelings towards her would probably be his downfall when it reached the ears of the public.

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 15? Did you like it? I apologize for Lucy and Cana not making up yet, but they shall. The StiCy is getting quite good as well, since Lucy now has a big reason to beat down Shelly! Really, must a powerful antagonist go so low for revenge? It was cool to me, anyway. Well, the Grand Magic Games are definitely coming up! What happens in the next chapter, when Juvia sees how Aqua Kyogre isn't so nice? Standby for the update!<strong>


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 16: Realizations, Suspicions, and Confusion<strong>

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><p>Three more days had gone by, ever since Lucy had fought physically and verbally with Shelly and Cana in Mintochoko Town, and she had been improving her physical strength to help her spells of Earth Magic gain some more support. She had also tested out the other types of magic, wondering how they were doing when they were not in use, and Lucy was very surprised to find out that her four other types of magic were much stronger than before. A single Viridian Tornado could make many large air currents blow in different directions, and the many gusts that were created had resulted in a few green blasts of energy.<p>

Every single green blast of energy from the Wind Magic had made the initially struck object shine in accord with a green glow surrounding every piece of it, and Lucy had remembered the chain power of her Wind Magic. When seven blasts had transpired, that caused the power of a spell like Aerial Palm to be increased exponentially. Spells such as Wind Cannon and Sky Tower had grown a lot without the chain power as well, making Lucy become more and more intrigued about the kind of spell book that she was using. Those spells had truly blown her away, right?

Her Water Magic had also improved a lot since the time that she last used it, and spells like Aqua Ball had become incredibly powerful. This spell had changed from creating a little puddle of water, now making quite a big splash when it struck something, and the many puddles that it left behind would result in a few blue blasts of energy. They were now powerful enough to be used in the clouds as well, meaning that Lucy could fire an Aqua Ball up at a cloud to make it pour down raindrops that would explode down on her opponents. Shelly's Water Magic had made Lucy think outside the box like that, and the blonde mage knew that being unorthodox with her skills came with many perks.

Lucy's Fire Magic had grown by three levels, unlike the Wind Magic and Water Magic that had respectively grown by five and four levels to be on equal footing with the other types of magic, and the blonde mage had found her Fire Magic to really be capable of causing quite a blaze. She had been testing these spells out on a volcanic island near the country of Fiore, and Lucy had been very surprised to find that some attacks like Fire Trick had considerably increased in power. Throwing the attack into the volcano while it bounced around the rocky walls seven times, however, had been a bad move. When Lucy's attack landed in the magma, its effects caused flames and lava to rise up out of the volcano with intense heat as an added bonus. The volcano's eruptive explosions had made big news around Fiore, but Lucy and Sting had left that island before they could get hurt.

Finally, her Lightning Magic had ascended in power by two levels. Lucy had noticed that all of her lightning spells had not only grown larger in size, but they had also gotten faster as well. Even Electric Vortex had become faster because of the lightning and earth seals now being broken, and its power could probably even rival a defensive spell like Jura's Rock Mountain. Lucy's Earth Magic had obviously grown by only one level, since it had only been around for a pretty short time, but the orange spell book had made all five types of magic be at the same level for perfect synchronicity with their master.

Due to the tense event that had happened back in the town of Mintochoko, Lucy and Sting had not gone back there because it really made things awkward. Lucy had not wanted to talk about the fact that Cana's battle with Shelly, combined with the blonde mage assuming that the villain had been the black-haired woman, had really intensified the conflict between the two girls. It had certainly reached the level where Shelly had given Sting a romantic kiss on the lips while she had been blushing, clearly making Lucy really jealous, and she swore to not let her second boyfriend be stolen from her in any way. Lucy knew that Sting was loyal to her, but would he criticize her actions from that day?

The duo had sat down at a table while enjoying bowls of chocolate and peanut butter ice cream for breakfast, really loving the sweet taste, and they had actually gotten all this ice cream because Sting took the large chocolate bar from the museum in Mintochoko as the compensation for Cana's card slamming him against the rough foil. He had told Rufus to use his Memory-Make Magic to create a replacement of the large bar of chocolate for the museum's patrons to enjoy, effacing the issues of theft or drama, and Sting smirked in a flirty manner at his girlfriend while she had loved how the white dragon slayer was such a great strategist.

While Lucy had been glad that Sting did not enjoy the kiss that Shelly gave him, the blonde mage narrowed her brown eyes while feeling bad about how she had gone after Shelly in such a biased way. After what Cana had told Lucy while she tried to apologize, stinking from the fact that Shelly showed Lucy how her old friend reeked of desperation, Lucy knew that she had to have better judgement. After all, in that incident, the enemy in her second conflict had actually been her ally against her enemy from the first conflict. Besides, Lucy smiled a bit as she giggled softly at the fact that Shelly unleashed her gassy weapon on Cana. A good rival had to be admired for being good at making former friends smell putrid, wouldn't you agree?

"Sting, I'm really sorry for being so hasty on that job we did in the town of Mintochoko. I was just so ready to beat down Shelly, totally ready to show her that I was far from weak, but I guess that even all the power in the world could not make up for my huge error in judgement. If I had not taken Cana's side in the battle, then Shelly never would've kissed you. Even though I find it funny that she passed gas in front of Cana, that's still no excuse for how that vixen kissed you on the lips as her way of punishing me. She's asking for a friendship and a farce at the same time, you know." Lucy explained to the white dragon slayer with an apologetic look on her face, hoping that he would forgive her act of clumsiness.

The blue-eyed male replied in a calm manner while eating his bowl of delicious chocolate and peanut butter ice cream, smirking in a flirty manner at his kind lover, "Don't worry about it, Lucy. You only did what you thought was right, even though it ended up making you and Cana have to smell Shelly's large fart, and we got the reward of getting to turn that large chocolate bar into ice cream. Her lips made me feel like I was being kissed by a sticky vacuum, and I washed the blueberry scent of her breath out of my mouth. Look, to ease your mind about your enemies, let's just relax together today. After tension, having some fun is always the best option."

As he gave Lucy a passionate and warm kiss on the lips, letting her feel and see that his lips were only for her to enjoy, the brown-eyed girl blushed pink while kissing back to return her boyfriend's feelings of love. This moment was just as great as the time they were in Aqua Kyogre's hot spring under the museum, and Lucy had always felt cheered up by Sting. Even if one job resulted in a love triangle intensifying, worrying about grudges and tension were not good options for Lucy right now. She knew that Sting was the guy that she could trust, and her new friends in Sabertooth had been much better than her former allies in Fairy Tail.

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><p><strong>At the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

Lisanna and Erza had just come back to the guild after finishing a few jobs together, and they had known that Gray was out somewhere with Juvia. Apparently, she really needed his help with something that she couldn't do on her own, and Lisanna giggled a bit from knowing how Juvia loved Gray. He probably wouldn't like what she had in store for him, but it wouldn't be anything bad. After all, Juvia was a kind person. Despite her overactive imagination at times, she was still one of the nicest mages in Fairy Tail. Lisanna was glad to know that Juvia would be in good hands with Gray, no matter what they would have to do while they were spending time together.

Speaking of spending time together, the white-haired mage had begun to realize that she had spent some time away from Natsu. Lisanna looked a bit sad while knowing that she had been leaving him while he had been ordered to stay in bed, not really happy over the fact that the fire dragon slayer was wounded so badly, but Natsu was getting his karma for being such a reckless jerk to his ex. Just because Lucy was now dating Sting, Lisanna had to truly wonder why Natsu would get so upset over something like that. Really, what kind of committed guy would get mad over his ex moving on? Even if she was dating his rival, what was so bad about them being together?

Her mind went back to the day where Natsu had been acting totally idiotic when the group of fairies had gone to the guild of Sabertooth, wondering if Lucy had truly been there, and Lisanna had walked out of the guild while Natsu had started a fight with Lucy again because his actions made her feel pushed aside by him. He could've just stood by her side while asking Lucy about her current love life, but it looked like Natsu had acted like she did something wrong while he had actually cheated on Lucy with Lisanna. If there's one thing that Lucy could never stand, it was a hypocrite. Lisanna probably looked bad in the eyes of the blonde mage as well, causing her to feel guilty.

She had known about Lucy being with Natsu last year, seeing the two of them always being happy together, but Lisanna had never known that Natsu would return her feelings when she confessed to loving him. Even if he had been getting bored with Lucy, how could he just leave her in the dark for almost seven months while he was enjoying his time with a girl as kind as Lisanna? She had never meant to break them up in any way, thinking that Natsu would tell Lucy about the harsh news, but that was certainly not the case at all. Lisanna had always been more neutral in this conflict, not really getting as much hate as Natsu did, but something was odd.

As the blue-eyed girl looked around the guildhall while she stood next to Erza, she noticed something that looked really odd. Natsu was sitting at a table with Marina, the teal-haired spy who had fit in easily to hide the fact that she was working for the dark guild known as Aqua Kyogre, and the two mages were happily smiling at each other while Marina had now worn a simple yellow T-shirt with a brown miniskirt to match. As Natsu had been looking into her green eyes, he was blushing a light shade of pink as his other hand was going up Marina's right leg. He was feeling her soft skin, making her sigh happily in pleasure, and she was a great actress as well. She stared back at the pink-haired male with a loving look in her green eyes, and the lovely smell of her perfume entered Natsu's nostrils.

Lisanna slowly walked over to the duo while her blue eyes remained fixed on Natsu, wondering why he would've ordered two cups of hot chocolate with whip cream for himself and Marina, making the white-haired female wonder why her boyfriend had ordered a drink that was only meant to have its sweet taste shared between himself and Lisanna. She had not been overly paranoid to think that he might be cheating on her, not wanting to jump to conclusions over something that had a high chance of not even existing right now, and Lisanna just wanted to see what they were talking about. After all, it was probably something that would go from a sly move to a slick save.

Natsu told Marina in a calm tone, smiling as the taste of the hot chocolate had made him feel very happy, "This is the best morning that I've ever had, and I wish that you were the barmaid every day. It wouldn't be good to know that you're exhausted from working, though, so at least you take advantage of your shift to make some sweet treats. You even said how Lisanna and I would be thrown a great party for our seven-month anniversary, Marina, and I can't thank you enough by hearing that you looked up her favorite foods for the party. You are so totally awesome, Marina, and you should get to know Lisanna. She's totally awesome and cool."

The teal-haired woman replied in a smart manner while looking a bit happy, noticing Lisanna on the corner of her right green eye, "I'm very glad to have lent most of my money to helping you out, Natsu Dragneel, and let's just say that your party with Lisanna will be so great. You won't even be able to forget about it, and you'll have so much fun. I hope that you've also planned to tell Lisanna about the large cake that you two will be having, and it shall be sliced apart with one piece at a time. You'll be so into the sweetness of the cake, and it will be a very good night. Just like when you told me how you and Lisanna sleep together peacefully. That's so cute."

Natsu was about to ask her for the flavor of the cake, hoping that it would be chocolate, but Marina quickly put her left hand in the cup of steamy hot chocolate while using her Water Body ability to enter the cup with ease. She had gotten herself into the cup without any problems, using this as a way to travel through liquids to reach the hot tub in her room at the guild of Aqua Kyogre, and she simply wanted to let Lisanna's paranoia or Natsu's denseness cause a rip in their relationship. After all, what's better than seeing a cheater and his girlfriend from the affair having a few minor issues?

Lisanna looked a bit confused by that ability Marina just used, thinking that only Juvia could do that, and the white-haired mage ran over to her boyfriend's side to greet him with a smile on her face. She was glad that Natsu and Marina had not been showing any romantic love for each other, not having that kind of shocking chemistry, but Lisanna did not know about the fact that Natsu was going to be in bed with Marina tonight. He enjoyed smelling her perfume, loving how she would let her body press against his while the bed would creak with their lovemaking, and Natsu was actually planning to give Lisanna an engagement ring while he had just wanted Marina to fill Lisanna's days of absence.

He had actually not wanted to cheat this time around, hoping that the same dilemma would not happen with Lisanna like how it had transpired with Lucy, and Natsu had kissed Lisanna's lips passionately when he had finally noticed her. He was only going to break up with her if things did not work out the way that he had intended them to, and Natsu also kept doing his best to get Lucy out of his head. He just could not stand the thought of her and Sting dancing together at a party, or even having two spoons in a bowl of ice cream that they were sharing. He was going to make Lucy pay for dating his rival, and the fire dragon slayer hoped to settle the score in the Grand Magic Games.

While Lisanna had now suspected that nothing was going on with Natsu, Erza kept looking at him in a stern manner. Her brown eyes were narrowed, almost like she could tell that he was now trying to hide something, and the scarlet-haired mage wondered if he had anything to do with the foul stench coming from the women's shower room in the guild. That was actually Cana's fault, since it took a long time to get Shelly's foul stench off of her body, and the card mage had been out drinking booze somewhere. Erza had heard about Lucy did not forgive Cana, and she could tell that the blame would soon be pointed on Natsu and Lisanna. The guild had been full of conflicts lately, everyone starting to feel annoyed while being around Natsu, and Erza sighed in an unhappy manner while knowing that Gray and Juvia must've been happier to not have been involved in keeping Natsu's affair from reaching Lucy's ears.

mind.

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><p><strong>In Gateau Town...<strong>

Gray had just finished helping Juvia with her job of buying a mint green cake, not knowing that she had bought it for him, and the ice mage didn't even care to see that the top of the mint green cake was covered in the chocolate Oreo cookies without the filling included. He had really loved chocolate, unaware that Juvia had always been tailing him when he had gone to his favorite dessert shop in Magnolia, and Gray thought that she must've been buying it for Lyon to make him finally stay away from her.

Juvia had smiled at Gray while they walked down the street that was covered in brick and cobblestone, blushing a bit while she tried to make her right hand hold his left hand, and this was like one of Juvia's greatest dreams. She had always wanted to spend some time alone with Gray, wanting to be around the guy that she was in love with, and just seeing the slightest twinkle in his dark blue eyes was enough to make her sigh happily and probably faint from the sheer happiness that her heart would experience.

Even though he was out on a job with Juvia right now, Gray could not stop thinking about Lucy. He was pretty happy to know that she was safe and sound, but he never really thought that she would have joined the Sabertooth guild. He certainly hoped that Rufus would not be using his Memory-Make Magic to brainwash her into forgetting all of her friends who were in Fairy Tail, and he also hoped that she would not be plotting a war against her former guild just because of what Natsu had done to her.

Gray had really cared for Lucy, and seeing her saddened by Natsu was really painful for him to watch. Erza had told him that words of sympathy would only make things worse in the situation, and even giving Natsu some stern lectures had proven to be pretty useless. Gray just hoped that Lucy was enjoying her new life in Sabertooth, and maybe he would see her at the Grand Magic Games. He had also heard a few rumors about the Grand Fiore League that might be held in place of the Grand Magic Games, but either tournament would make somebody win a title of some kind.

As the ice mage kept on walking, he noticed that Juvia had stopped for some reason. He turned around to ask her what was wrong, wondering if the cake had been struck by bird poop or something, and he surprisingly saw the Rain Woman clenching her teeth while growling at the sight of something or someone who was up ahead. Gray looked straight ahead in the direction where Juvia was looking, and what he saw was really a sight for sore eyes to him. He had to blink twice to confirm what he saw, and his vision wasn't playing tricks on him. The black-haired male could not believe that this chance had finally come around, but was it truly going to give him the results that he expected?

Lucy had apparently dyed her hair purple, now having it in a violet color, and she had been wearing a purple top that looked similar to the one that she wore on the first day of the Grand Magic Games last year in X791. Her pants were also black, and her flat shoes were lavender. Gray smiled a bit from seeing her here, wondering what she could be doing in this town, and he would gladly assist her with any job that she was on right now. He knew that Juvia considered Lucy as her love rival for Gray's affections, but he knew that Lucy had been distant from the Fairy Tail guild because of Natsu and Cana messing things up for the blonde mage.

Gray and Juvia had been neutral with the whole situation involving Natsu having to keep his affair with Lisanna from reaching the ears of Lucy, but Juvia had also known that Gray felt bad for not being there for Lucy in a good way. He didn't have to think about Natsu's secret, but Gray had only ignored it because he thought that Natsu would mess up and tell Lucy on his own. However, that was not the case. Also, Lucy's conflict with Cana had made her feel like the people who remained in Fairy Tail were not her friends at all. She could not being herself to trust Cana anymore, now probably wanting to follow Shelly's harsh views of thinking while still seeing her as a rival, and Gray wanted to at least be on good terms with her. Even if he was the only one in Fairy Tail on her side right now, wasn't one person better than having no one?

"Hey, Lucy! Listen, I just want you to know that I'm sorry about what happened with Natsu and Lisanna. It was really unfair of me to not help you out when you needed to have someone by your side, but you don't have to hate all of us because of one person's actions. Natsu is a total idiot, which is the truth, but at least be my friend again. I know that an apology won't make up for not being there for you, Lucy, but I refuse to see you feeling hurt by what happened in the guild. I understand all the pain and anger that you must feel, so let's just talk about this!" Gray told her with an apologetic look in his dark blue eyes, having the intention to reach out to her.

Lucy, or whoever he thought was her, had replied in a stern manner while turning around to face Gray and Juvia with an evil look in her amethyst purple eyes, "That sounds like a really emotional speech while you want to be her friend, but here's a little plot twist that shows where you messed up. I am not Lucy, you fool. How dare you mistake me for that sniveling little clown of a mage! I'll have you know that I'm a member of Aqua Kyogre, one of the most infamous guilds in Fiore, and you were unlucky enough to come across one of the Elite Four as well."

At that moment, Gray and Juvia both gasped in shock at what they were seeing. This person who looked exactly like Lucy, except for the violet hair and amethyst purple eyes, was not the blonde mage that they both knew? Gray could see the harsh look in this girl's amethyst purple eyes, an evil look that Lucy could never really have, and he had to wonder why this girl looked so much like Lucy. She had never spoke of having a twin sister, nor did she ever seem like one had actually existed somewhere. On top of that, the presence of someone from Aqua Kyogre in this town was not a good sign.

Juvia also looked a bit startled, getting a pretty strange vibe from this girl, and she didn't like it at all. Her magical power seemed to be different from Lucy's, much fiercer in some way, and it made the Rain Woman look alert while also knowing that she could not just leave Gray alone with this lookalike of Lucy. After all, Juvia couldn't stand to think of what this girl would do to the man that she loved with all of her heart. She glared at the violet-haired girl, who smirked at the Fairy Tail mages for mentioning Lucy's name. Upon hearing that this girl was having the job of keeping watch in this town, Juvia had to wonder why a criminal would act like an authority figure.

"Tell me something, then. Have you seen Lucy Heartfilia lately? I'm just wanting to know if you destroyed her, that's all. Some of the jobs that she's done may not have made big news to the papers in this country, but doing things like using elemental types of magic that affect nature is something that we can't tolerate. Let's just say that her Fire Magic was sensed around the same times as a few heat waves, and her Earth Magic caused some sandstorms to blow away our secret bases. Messing with us is something that is intolerable, and I'll ask you again if you managed to defeat Lucy." The mysterious girl asked and told Gray in a calm tone, seeming like she knew Lucy from somewhere.

Not wanting Lucy's current whereabouts to be told to someone who had unknown and possibly dangerous intentions, Gray simply told the girl that he and Juvia had supposedly battled against Lucy in the mountains when she was using the orange spell book. However, he made up a lie and said how she was strong enough for them to settle things on a draw and end the fight because he didn't want a rock slide to occur for the people of Pewter Town to be in danger. Gray also informed this girl that Lucy's spells had tripped him up majorly, and he looked stern while hoping she would believe this lie.

However, his explanation only caused this girl with violet hair to snicker in a vicious manner. She could only see Gray's words as pure garbage, and she told him and Juvia to not even try joking around with her about Lucy. She let the ice mage know that if he had to be thinking that Lucy was powerful in her current state, then him and Juvia must've been the weakest team on Earthland. She had even brought up the fact that Aqua Kyogre had individual files on every mage in Fiore, including the file with data that Shelly had been updating on Lucy, and this girl with the purple eyes told Gray that Lucy was only surviving because she would eventually have to join Aqua Kyogre in their dark plot.

This comment greatly offended Gray, who knew that Lucy would not want to be used like a tool in any way, and the ice mage now glared at the girl who stood before him. She had talked about destroying Lucy, most likely for Aqua Kyogre to get their hands on the spell book of Molding Magic that the blonde mage had wielded, and the ice mage could tell that they were probably just waiting for Lucy to complete the book. Then, they would simply take it out of her hands. That seemed like a very predictable theory, but let's just say that his assumption was way off. Lucy was actually on the side of Aqua Kyogre in a way, since she now agreed with Shelly that Cana was more of an enemy than a friend to her.

While Gray had been doing the speaking in this chat with the lookalike of Lucy, Juvia simply told him to cease as she began walking away. She knew that if the violet-haired girl wasn't going to do anything but stand there and dish out tough talk, then there was no reason to keep fighting verbally or have this confrontation escalate to a physical level. Besides, Juvia had come to this town to buy a cake for Gray. She didn't plan on fighting anybody, and the Rain Woman had a fierce look in her blue eyes while letting this lookalike of Lucy know that there was no need to quarrel with her.

Gray and Juvia both saw no reason for fighting someone who didn't even seem tough, proceeding to walk away from this confrontation and head back to the town of Magnolia where the Fairy Tail guild was located, but this only made their new opponent speak in a darker tone of voice while her violet hair began to obscure her eyes. She let the duo know that they were both very naive for thinking that they could just walk away quietly from her without anything happening, and the female from Aqua Kyogre threatened to put the whole town in a sea of toxicity. Not wanting to let that happen, along with the stakes being too high if they were to refuse, Gray and Juvia requested that their battle be on the countryside route near Gateau Town.

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><p><strong>15 minutes later...<strong>

After getting far away from the town, not wanting any innocent people to be hurt in this fight, Gray and Juvia stood on one side of the grassy field while their violet-haired opponent stood on the other side of it. Three large windmills were on the sidelines of the battlefield, letting their propellers spin while a breeze blew through the area, and Juvia had set her mint cake on the sidelines as well. She hoped that it wouldn't get damaged in any way, or she would definitely be teaching her opponent a lesson about messing with her love for Gray.

The girl with amethyst purple eyes revealed that her name was Janine Mitarashi, and she was one of the Elite Four that could be faced in the Grand Fiore League if the best challenger wanted to take the option of challenging the four best mages in Fiore's league while the current champion could also be battled as well. Janine really had her doubts about Gray or Juvia even making it past the first round if they entered the tournament, and she looked pretty confident about her chances of winning while staring down her opponents. If this battle would be two against one, then how could she still be so confident?

Narrowing his dark blue eyes, Gray looked stern while jumping up into the air and firing three large icicles at Janine. They wouldn't actually come down upon her, since Gray was using this as a way to test her strength. He also wanted to see what kind of book or keys would be used by this girl, since she was a lookalike of Lucy, and he certainly hoped that none of her Celestial Spirits would be as powerful as Aquarius. He smirked a bit, seeing the icicles about to land in a triangle around Janine, but something strange happened. She had a calm look in her amethyst purple eyes, simply standing in place while the ice shards came towards her, and it was like she could tell where the ice would land.

Much to his and Juvia's surprise, Janine had not tried to dodge the icicles at all. She somehow knew that Gray wasn't actually trying to hit her, and she smirked a bit while the evil look was maintained in her amethyst purple eyes. Janine used her first spell, and it was known as Shadow Ball. This move caused a purple ball to be fired from the palm of her right hand, and it appeared to be from Darkness Magic. The purple ball struck one of the windmills, obliterating it while creating a large purple blast of energy, and Juvia thought that Janine's aim was off. However, she had strategically used that Shadow Ball as a starting move into her next attack.

However, Gray quickly grabbed his friend's left hand while getting her out of the way of the falling debris. Every piece of wood had a purple aura surrounding it, and purple blasts transpired when the pieces of wood hit the ground. Gray took notice of that unorthodox spell being similar to an attack that Lucy would probably use, but him and Juvia had managed to dodge all of the debris. He knew that Janine would have to do better than that to defeat mages from the guild of Fairy Tail, and the ice mage also wondered about the other spells in her arsenal.

Janine noticed that Gray and Juvia looked happy to have dodged that first attack, but her next spell would not be something to laugh about. It was known as Dark Efiálti̱s, and this spell had worked in conjunction with her first spell. All of the violet blasts had a side effect to them, and they caused purple silhouettes of Janine to rise from the spots where her attacks had landed. They all flew towards Juvia, surprisingly passing right through her body like they were ghosts, and the blue-haired woman screamed when she felt like her stamina was being drained.

In reality, Janine was actually using this spell to give herself more energy by absorbing every single bad thought in the heart and mind of Juvia. A purple aura surrounded her body while she could feel her magical power increasing, and she began to laugh evilly from stealing Juvia's magical power in such a cruel way. Gray attempted to hit Janine with Ice-Make: Shotgun, hoping that his thick spears of ice would hit her, but her second spell had also allowed her to use its side effect. Her silhouettes taken the attacks for her, creating violet explosions in the process, and Janine felt more power being transferred to her.

Deciding to take this battle into her own hands, most likely to help Gray, Juvia used her Water Magic to unleash a Water Cyclone down on Janine from a cloud that was floating overhead. The vortex of blue water was about to come down upon the violet-haired girl to cause massive damage, but she quickly countered with a spell known as Haunting Betrayal. This spell caused Juvia's Water Cyclone to turn purple, changing its properties to now be a spell of Darkness Magic, and the large vortex of energy was redirected by Janine to strike Gray instead! A large violet blast of Darkness Magic transpired, causing Janine to snicker viciously.

Haunting Betrayal was a spell that allowed its user to distract its prey with a little nightmare, and hit them with its biggest impact from anywhere that they pleased. Janine had imagined Gray being struck by the spell, and the purple smoke cleared up to reveal its side effect. Gray was now immobilized because of Janine making the spell have intense properties of gravity as well, and he couldn't even lift a single finger because of all the pressure that was being forced down on him. Juvia looked very concerned for Gray, wanting to help him, but the ice mage told her to run away quickly.

"Juvia will not leave Gray-sama here! She will defeat Janine, one way or another!" Juvia exclaimed with a determined facial expression, ready to try and beat Janine with any kind of spell.

The girl with amethyst purple eyes replied evilly while harshly glaring at Juvia, "I guess it's time for me to end this little battle. Prepare to see the difference between me and Lucy, or I can give you more of a demonstration."

Before Juvia could even attack with Water Slicer, she noticed that Janine's shadow was starting to change into something very strange. It began to rise up from the ground, having large red eyes and a wide mouth, making Juvia seem a bit uneasy. Janine's shadow morphed into a dark purple, bipedal creature with a roundish body. Multiple purple spikes covered its back, and it had large pointed ears. Its arms and legs were short with three digits on both its hands and feet. It also had a stubby tail, too. This spell was known as Lunar Shadow, and its effect would not be good for Juvia.

Janine's newly morphed shadow separated itself from her, and it shot out a large purple ball of energy from its mouth. This attack went up into the air, confusing Juvia, but then she and Gray both looked startled to see the Rain Woman being levitated into the air like gravity around her had been removed. She was now floating in midair, seeming surprised at what was going on, and Janine's shadowy creature laughed when it made the purple sphere come down upon Juvia at fast speeds. It had gained power on its descent, and Juvia found herself now unable to move because of the gravity immobilizing her.

When the purple ball of energy struck Juvia with tremendous amounts of force, it sent her crashing back down to the ground! A large violet blast of energy transpired afterwards, blinding Gray's eyes, and he could sense the enormous power of this attack. The sound of the explosion was louder than Juvia's scream of pain, and the Rain Woman had taken an extreme amount of damage from the gravity smashing her against the ground. When the purple smoke quickly cleared up, Gray's dark blue eyes widened in pure shock from seeing Juvia unconscious with her eyes open. The gravity was now released from him, and he slowly stood up to go over and aid his friend.

"You monster! You are sick! You intended to kill Juvia!" Gray shouted at Janine while looking stern, seeing some purple and bloody slash wounds on his friend's arms and legs.

Before Gray could make this argument persist any longer, he looked a bit curious to hear something like a transceiver giving off the sound of static in Janine's left pocket of her black pants. She could only look at him with an evil smirk on her face, mouthing the words "Fairy Tail will be crushed for being in the way of Aqua Kyogre getting Lucy and the book", and the violet-haired member of the Elite Four melted down into a puddle of purple sludge to teleport back to the guild where Shelly was waiting to give her some orders.

As the ice mage noticed that Juvia had managed to shake her head a bit, now being slightly conscious while she now had some fear in her blue eyes, Gray knew that those guys from Aqua Kyogre were pretty deceptive. It was honestly hard to tell if Janine had only been spouting lies to rile up Fairy Tail, probably as payback for how Natsu cheated on Lucy with Lisanna, and Gray could only regret the fact that he had not been a better friend to Lucy. Letting her heart get crushed by Natsu was what a friend should not have allowed, and Gray knew that he'd have to give her an apology in the Grand Magic Games.

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><p><strong>Back at Sabertooth...<strong>

In an effort to help Lucy feel more relaxed while she just had to ignore any thoughts about Cana, Sting had taken his girlfriend to her room for their next date. It wasn't exactly a fancy restaurant or a movie theater, but who said that relationship partners always had to be in fancy areas? Lucy's room had smelled really good, the scent of strawberries flowing through the air, and Sting loved how this room had smelled so wonderful. He told Lucy to sit down on the sofa in her room, as he sat next to her, and Sting wanted her to let out all of her feelings towards Cana. It was never good for her to keep her feelings bottled up, you know.

He had been a good listener while she had told him about the fact that her mind could not get over the fact that Cana had totally betrayed her, never even once telling her about how Natsu had been cheating on her with Lisanna, and Lucy had actually calculated the time to know when her ex would be celebrating the awaited seven-month anniversary with his girlfriend. Cana had known about the fact that Lucy was being duped, but that was not the only thing on the blonde mage's mind. She had gone further into this subject, letting Sting know more about her issues.

Not only had she mistaken Shelly for the true antagonist in her fight against Cana, but she had actually tried to hurt the person who was actually her rival and a friend at the same time. Wendy had been able to trust Shelly, mainly because she had not gotten on the nerves of the tanned woman, but the young sky dragon slayer also did not possess the legendary book that worked well with the keys. That is what Aqua Kyogre had been after, seeing as Shelly knew that it was a great treasure, but Lucy did not know about any of that.

Her mind kept going back to the moment that Shelly had kissed Sting on the lips, making Lucy utterly shocked at the fact that her rival had punished her in the worst way. That kiss was worse than when Shelly kicked Lucy down into the museum's hot spring, making her feel like she was not good enough, and Lucy kept trying to maintain her confidence. She did not want Sting to be worried while she kept on thinking about how Shelly was better than her in terms of power, speed, strategy, sexiness, and even her muscles had made Lucy feel intimidated. She had known that tying in a battle with her rival would be seen as a draw, but could Lucy actually beat her?

Even though Lucy and Sting had done great on many other jobs, defeating many opponents, Lucy clenched her fists while knowing that she had to become mentally stronger and physically stronger. Her emotions had been stirred up in that last battle with Shelly, even though she did not know it, and Lucy looked saddened while telling Sting that she just wanted Fairy Tail to go away. She had lost all of her trust for any of them, seeing no reason to forgive them, and her cocoa brown eyes told her boyfriend that she was going to show her old guild that they'd regret ever making her feel the pain of being stabbed in the back.

"I know that you feel a lot of anger towards your new rival and your old friends, but you can't let the rage fuel your desire to win. Instead, think in a positive light. I will find a way to be on your team in the Grand Magic Games, and you won't have to face those guys alone. You forget that me, Rogue, Yukino, Lector, and Rufus would all do anything to help you out. You may feel really hurt by what Shelly and Natsu say to you, but why let them shake you up or get you angry? If you just remember that you're not alone, you'll always win." Sting explained to her in a calm manner, smiling happily as he hugged his girlfriend.

As he gave her that loving hug, Lucy blushed a light shade of pink while remembering how she had her first kiss with Sting. It was a sign of great trust between the two mages, building the love that they had for each other, and Lucy now knew what was missing. Sting had done so much for her, even saving her from falling off a cliff once, and Lucy had not repaid him for being such a kind boyfriend. She had mainly been thinking of how to improve herself with her magic, but it was bad to not include her new friends. Their growing bonds with her would make the book's magic become more powerful, giving her the will to win, and then Lucy came to realize it. Sting and the others were kind enough to help her, and now it was her turn to help Sabertooth win the Grand Magic Games.

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 16? Did you like it? Sorry for taking so long to update this chapter, and it's the prologue to the exciting Grand Magic Games! You heard me. They will debut in the next chapter, and that's where the StiCy will reach another good point! Anyway, what will happen when Team Sabertooth is now ready to win? Will Fairy Tail stand in the way? Does Lucy's rival help her out in a few ways, since they may eventually have to team up? Standby for the update!<strong>


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 17: Schemes and Assumptions<strong>

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><p>After the next few weeks had gone by, all of the guilds in Fiore had found out the exciting news about what would be happening this year. They would be able to participate in the Grand Magic Games, the annual tournament that would decide the best guild in Fiore, and it would certainly be carefully watched over by the organization that created it. They didn't want anything like the Eclipse Project taking place this year, and the castle had now been off-limits for any tourists in the capital of Fiore.<p>

Team Sabertooth had arrived in Crocus on the day of the preliminary round that would decide the eight teams that got to participate in the real competition tomorrow, and Lucy had a happy smile on her face. Upon seeing the many flowerbeds and flower shops on a street that the team was walking down on their way to the inn that was located in the Crocus Gardens, she ran over to a flower pot that had red roses growing in the soil. Lucy sniffed them deeply to take in their wonderful aroma, letting out a blissful sigh from the sweet scent.

She had always loved being around flowers, and the ones in Crocus had been handled with care every day. The roses always smelled really nice, and many other flowers were in the parks and meadows of the city. Crocus was a very beautiful place, and it also had some of the finest foods in Fiore. Lucy had remembered how the food tasted so great last year, and it would taste even better when Sabertooth won the tournament. She planned to win for her new guild, and hopefully end up beating Fairy Tail.

After all, Lucy had been wanting to really show Fairy Tail how she was so much stronger than her past self. She had thought back to all the times that Natsu had said she was so weak, and yet she had actually been the one to turn the tables on him. She wanted to make that rude jerk pay for what he had done to her, and Lucy really hated his attitude. She did not even want to talk with him during a fight, since all he would get from her was a fist to his mouth. She was going to show off her strength, and impress Sting.

"All right, guys. Don't have any doubts about entering the tournament, since we'll be the ones who win it! Last year may have been the year that kind of wrecked our rep of being honorable champions, since Minerva was so brutal to Lucy, but my girlfriend's current circumstances with Fairy Tail and our determination will make everyone see that we aren't a bunch of jerks!" Sting explained in a confident manner, smiling proudly while putting his hand into the air to create some kind of team gesture.

Everyone else touched Sting's hand, really ready to win this year, and they all knew that they had to bring their best efforts on to the battlefield. After all, the Grand Magic Games were known for their tricky events and match-ups in battles that almost seemed completely unfair. Sting had even thought of Yukino's battle against Kagura to be an unfair pairing, since Yukino's opponent had a sword that sliced through one of her strongest Celestial Spirits while the sword itself wasn't even unsheathed at the time.

Despite any planning that Team Sabertooth would be doing, they also knew that they had made a little bit of a numerical error on their part. Even though Sting wanted to be in the Grand Magic Games, having made Wendy the temporary guild master for the next five days, his participation caused the team to have six members instead of five. There could only be five members on each team for the final day, and someone also had to act as a reserve member on the four days that would transpire before the last event.

Orga was about to volunteer for that position, knowing how Jura Neekis from Team Lamia Scale knocked him out in one hit last time, but he was a bit shocked to hear Yukino volunteer to be the reserve member instead. She had a soft smile on her face, thinking that she would not really be that useful with only three of the Golden Zodiac Gate Keys, and the hazel-eyed Celestial Spirit Wizard also had secretly feared that she would make the same mistakes that she had made last year in her battle against Kagura.

Lucy had looked a bit disappointed from hearing Yukino say that she did not want to participate for most of the tournament, and the blonde mage had to wonder about her friend's soft smile. If she thought that her skills weren't up to par with everyone else's, then did she have the confidence about everyone else doing well? Rufus had even remembered how Gray Fullbuster beat him in the fight that they had in the library, and that made him look slightly nervous about this. History sure has a way of making people nervous, right?

Sting had even remembered how he lost to Natsu, forfeited in the Chariot event, and how he surrendered on the final day. He had caused Sabertooth to lose last year, breaking their winning streak, and the white dragon slayer knew that Fairy Tail had strong people in their guild. However, he also knew that he wasn't going to be manipulated by Minerva this year. Since she was gone, he could freely make his own decisions. He couldn't let Lucy down, though, since she was counting on him as well.

She had always believed that he could do anything that he put his mind to, and Lucy knew that Sting was really strong. He had also fought evenly with her last week when she was using all eight spells of Fire Magic to get him prepared for the possible chance of facing Natsu again, and Sting had noticed that Lucy's flames were really hot. She had been focusing most of her stamina into the Fire Magic, making its power grow to the absolute peak of perfection, and this growth also worked to balance her other types of magic with it.

Sting had taken notice of Lucy's book still being in an orange color, meaning that no new type of magic had appeared in some way yet, and he wondered why that book had a tendency to act so strange. It had some of the weirdest spells, and the book itself would still have no modern languages. They were all written in olden words of different languages, and Lucy was still somehow able to read them. Sting had wondered what was up with the book changing colors like that, and he decided that this was a perfect moment for him and Lucy to have some quality time together.

With his fast hands, Sting took Lucy's orange spell book and laughed while running off with it. She looked utterly shocked at what he had just done, running after him quickly, and the other members of Team Sabertooth knew that Sting was up to something. Since the preliminary round would begin in a few hours from now, couldn't the duo use this game of chase to do some sightseeing as well? Sting was planning to give it back to her, but only if this chase would end in his favor. Would his strategy work, or would something unexpected interrupt him?

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><p><strong>Meanwhile...<strong>

The two teams representing the Fairy Tail guild had entered into Crocus, determined to make Fairy Tail win once again. Makarov was confident that his teams could succeed in whatever the Grand Magic Games threw at them, too. Team Fairy Tail A consisted of Natsu, Erza, Gray, Laxus, Gajeel, and Juvia while the others who were known as Team Fairy Tail B consisted of Cana, Elfman, Lisanna, Mirajane, and Jellal. (In this story, Jellal is not a criminal anymore and Ultear admitted to being the one who was responsible for his crimes.)

Natsu seemed a bit unhappy to be on a different team than Lisanna, knowing full well that their chemistry had always been making their teamwork shine bright like the sun on every job that they did as a duo, and the fire dragon slayer hoped that he would not have to fight against his own girlfriend during this tournament. He would be also be cheering on the white-haired mage, wanting his sweet lover to always do her best, and Natsu might probably scream loud enough while making flames go up from his mouth to burn any haters of Fairy Tail that were in the stands.

He had also heard something about Marina being in the competition to help Fairy Tail win, but the pink-haired male did not see her with Team Fairy Tail B. It had only been a rumor that she was chosen, based on her hard work, but the teal-haired girl had also disappeared to an unknown location while not even telling Natsu where she would be going. He had missed the scent of her blackberry perfume, enjoying how she would let her scent enter his nostrils while they would spend some nights in bed together, but Natsu's bad karma would soon be the odor that crept up on him.

He had been hoping that Marina would be in Crocus, even if she would only be shopping and cheering for Fairy Tail to win, and Natsu had wanted to feel good with her. Even if they had to meet in secrecy, kissing and being in bed while the fire dragon slayer would be lying to his white-haired girlfriend, then Natsu would gladly show Marina that he was loving how every kiss from her had felt like a piece of heaven. His relationship with Lisanna did have an anniversary coming up while they were a cute couple, which was true, but Natsu felt that he and Marina were much more than that. They were very hot, and Natsu loved making her body feel warm.

His mind had been wandering into his thoughts about the spy from Aqua Kyogre, not even realizing that she had made Natsu break apart from his friends for the conflicts of Fairy Tail to begin, and the fire dragon slayer was still unable to see that his feelings were only nothing more than tools to his mistress with teal hair. She sure had his heart in hands, letting Natsu fall so deeply in love with her, and he looked determined to win for her. Natsu knew that she would be watching, not expecting any plot twists to shake him up, and he had even forgotten about Lucy for a moment.

"All right, everyone. The Grand Magic Games have come around again, and we are going to win like how we did last year. However, I think we all know that's not our only goal to accomplish while we're here. It's pretty obvious that Sabertooth might try to aim for the top again, and their presence will probably give us the opportunity to give Lucy our best apologies. Even though I wasn't involved in the drama, doing nothing and betraying her are two different things that both made her feel hurt by us. Let's show her that we aren't a bunch of jerks, and that we do want to be her friends." Gray explained to everyone with a stern look on his face, not wanting this conflict to persist any longer.

Natsu shouted with an upset look on his face, letting his mind swap out his feelings of love for feelings of annoyance at the mention of Lucy's name, "Wow, you must be dense in the head! There is no reason that we should be friends with a girl in Sabertooth, you icy stripper, and you must really want to make me mad from having to see Lucy with that smug jerk named Sting! I hate them both so much, and I'll burn them in a blaze! I'm fired up to take down Lucy for getting with that guy, especially since she knew very well that's he's my rival! It's like she blindsided and used me, you know!"

Both boys glared at each other, once again disliking each other for their different views on this situation, but Erza's death glare scared them both into trying to act like friends. They saw the harsh look in her brown eyes, hating the fact that Natsu was indeed the one who had caused Lucy to leave Fairy Tail, and she was curious about what Lisanna thought of this whole mess. The white-haired mage had been really quiet for a while, never really saying much about how the drama in the guild had made her feel, but she looked unhappy while supposedly understanding where Natsu's heart was headed.

To Lisanna, Natsu had always spoken about Lucy like he just could not stand the thought of her being with Sting. She was his ex, however, and there really should have been no strife. However, Lisanna would always be concerned to hear Natsu bragging about how he would beat Sting again in this year's Grand Magic Games. His strange desire to pummel Lucy and her new boyfriend had felt weird to Lisanna, making her suspect that the fire dragon slayer was going to try and get Lucy back, and Lisanna did not want to be cheated on because of her boyfriend's swaying feelings. She had to set him straight, right?

Even though she had to make him see that she was there for him, Lisanna also wanted to give Lucy a good apology for everything that had happened to her. It had been wrong to make the guild members be sneaky behind her back for nearly seven months, not even telling her about the fact that Natsu had been cheating on her, and Lisanna truly did feel sorry for her actions. However, the fact that Natsu still hated Lucy was certainly quite a thorny issue to get around. Lisanna had to get him to see that not everyone from Sabertooth was jerky like he thought they were, but how could she possibly do that?

Unknown to Fairy Tail or Sabertooth, the Grand Magic Games would actually be doing a little bit of collaborating with the Grand Fiore League. They would still be having the various events, but the sponsors also were aware of Raven Tail's cheating ways last year. They definitely wanted this tournament to have some fairness to it, and that's why the battles would have a little twist. Even the preliminary event would be something exciting that was from the Grand Fiore League, but nobody knew what it would be. Would it be something to truly be excited about, for the most part?

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><p><strong>Elsewhere, in Crocus...<strong>

Sting had stopped running when he had arrived at a grassy park, noticing that there was a concession stand selling dessert on the nearby street, and he prepared to get some cake for him and Lucy to eat. Speaking of his girlfriend, she had finally managed to catch up with him while panting heavily from running so far to get her purple spell book back. Sting noticed that Lucy looked pretty exhausted from all that running, and she tripped over her left foot while looking pretty confident about retrieving the book.

He had caught her before she could fall, letting the blonde-haired girl rest her head against his chest, and she sighed happily from feeling Sting's warmth. She wanted the book back, but Lucy found herself blushing when she looked into the charming blue eyes of Sting. She had no idea that he stole the book to not only be alone with her, but this was his way of luring a girl on a date with him. He loved to see Lucy in a determined mood, knowing she would be ready to take on anything, and taking her book was a great way to get her all psyched up.

Speaking of the book, Lucy and Sting still had no idea that it was wanted by Aqua Kyogre for that guild's interesting plot. They had been planning to use one of its types of magic to achieve a certain goal, but the book was not in their possession at the moment. That's why Shelly took a liking to Lucy, seeing that the blonde girl had the book, and the black-haired woman would simply use her rival's feelings as a way to become her possible ally. After all, wasn't it smart of Shelly to make Lucy now be turned against Cana? She just had to keep using the discord between Lucy and the fairies, as a way for her rival to grow.

Lucy and Sting decided to happily share a box of a dozen glazed donuts, wanting to have some sweet treats before the preliminary round of the Grand Magic Games would begin, and both of the mages took six donuts from the box. While Sting hurriedly ate his donuts, feeling famished from all of the running that he had done, Lucy had taken her time eating the donuts to enjoy the sugary taste. She always loved to eat sweets, since they were so sweetly delicious, and they went well with a sweet girl like Lucy. This was certainly a sweet day for her, right?

She had even ran her fingers through the white dragon slayer's blond hair, loving how he had always been able to manage every single aspect of his hotness, and Lucy gave Sting a soft kiss on the cheek while they sat together on a brown bench in the park. She had definitely wanted to help her new friends win in the Grand Magic Games, not intent on losing out to her enemies from Fairy Tail, and Lucy narrowed her eyes while looking determined to win. As she was about to tell Sting about her fierce drive, however, let's just say that the water from a nearby fountain would certainly dampen her lovely plan.

Shelly had come out of the fountain, wearing her blue midriff top that left her stomach exposed, and she also wore her fashionable blue jeans as well. Her presence was quickly noticed by Lucy and Sting, the latter charging up Holy Nova in his right hand for the possibility of a fight breaking out, but the white dragon slayer had a curious look in his eyes when he could see that Shelly was looking straight at Lucy. The two rivals had met up once again, but what in the world did Shelly want? Why would a member of Aqua Kyogre be here?

"Hello again, Lucy Heartfilia. I see that you're still with Sting, despite the fact that you must've been so furious over the kiss that I gave him, but that's not why I'm here. The guild of Aqua Kyogre is just wanting to wish you good luck today, and you'll probably need luck in this tournament. The fairies are competing as well, but I do hope that you won't show them any mercy. After all, I doubt that you'd last against someone other than me or Natsu. You may not even beat Erza Scarlet, for all we know." Shelly told her rival in a condescending manner, smirking evilly as she was face to face with the blonde girl.

Lucy replied in a determined tone, looking confident as her cocoa brown eyes were locked with Shelly's aqua blue ones, "I'm going to help Sabertooth win this competition, Shelly, and I will not lose to anybody. It's true that I may not have as much experience as you do, but I'm going to show you that I can crush Fairy Tail with only a few attacks! I'll be creative and strategic, too, so you won't be able to say that I'm just clueless or full of assumptions! I plan to show off my fighting spirit, and you'll see my true strength! After I wipe the floor with Natsu, I'll beat you down as well!"

Shelly maintained her smirk while getting to hear her rival's words of confidence, and the black-haired woman could only think of how great it was to see Lucy be turned against her former guild. She was good at entering the mind of the younger girl, helping Lucy increase her desire to make Fairy Tail pay for how they had hurt her so badly by not telling her that she was being played, and Shelly had giggled a bit at the thought of Fairy Tail's mages being crushed by someone who had been ousted from their guild? Lucy would be the perfect one to deliver the payback to them, taking the eyes of the fairies off of Aqua Kyogre.

As the blonde mage was now feeling fired up, ready to help her team win the Grand Magic Games, she could only look a bit curious to see Shelly blow her a kiss while she still smirked evilly. Lucy looked a bit puzzled about what was going on, especially since a purple heart-shaped projectile was now floating in midair between her and Shelly. The heart floated towards Lucy's book, attaching itself to the orange cover, and the heart burst into glitter while making the spell book turn purple as well. Violet beams of light began to shine from the book, signifying that new spells had appeared, but it was only because Shelly let Lucy have a bit of her darkness and poison as a secret invitation to join Aqua Kyogre against Fairy Tail someday.

With that job now done, as well as the temperature in Crocus beginning to make her sweat, Shelly gave Sting a soft kiss to his right cheek before she went back into the fountain to take a hidden passageway back into Aqua Kyogre's hideout. Shelly had loved to make Lucy blush red, clearly knowing that she looked jealous from seeing her sexy rival kiss Sting, and the black-haired woman had actually given Lucy a little lovely taste of how Aqua Kyogre could pour their waters of persuasion into the minds of whoever they saw as admirable. She wanted Lucy to have tons of power, since Water Magic and Darkness Magic worked well together.

Sting had quickly wiped Shelly's lipstick off of his cheek, really hating how that woman was so flirty with him, and the white dragon slayer had still remembered the time that she had almost left him frozen from a kiss. He had never liked women who were so evil and tactical, really making a great comparison while he had thought that Shelly could be a distant relative of Minerva, and Sting was hoping that Shelly would never kiss his lips ever again. The only woman who he wanted a kiss from was Lucy, and her kisses were sweet like a sugary treat.

While Lucy and Sting had been dealing with Shelly, however, the duo did not bother to turn around for the chance to have seen many grunts from Aqua Kyogre knocking out at least one or two members of certain teams with scalding hot water to keep them from competing in the Grand Magic Games. If there weren't enough teams for the preliminary round, then how could it be held? This meant that eight teams might qualify by default, and Lucy had no idea that Shelly had simply been distracting her for those few minutes. The tanned woman was going to make this be in Lucy's favor, now that their goals were becoming similar with the desire for Fairy Tail's downfall.

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 17? Did you like it? Sorry for changing the plot a bit, or if it's too short. Anyway, the Grand Magic Games have now begun! Will the teamwork of Lucy and Sting be great enough for a few wins, and will Lisanna start getting more suspicious? Who qualifies for the tournament, making both Lucy and Cana shocked? Standby for the update!<strong>


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 18: The Lucy, The Shelly, and the Natsu<strong>

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><p>The following day, Lucy and Sting were at a coffee shop in Crocus to discuss the events that had transpired yesterday. This was also the first day of the Grand Magic Games, and Sabertooth had been informed that they were one of the eight teams left standing in the competition. They were lucky to have not been true enemies with Shelly's crew from Aqua Kyogre, since they were the ones who had purposely wounded many competitors with scalding hot water, and Lucy wasn't even looking all that proud to have technically passed the preliminary round. After all, who would be happy to have a rival who played dirty?<p>

The book's new purple color had looked a bit strange to Lucy, and she could only look curious while wondering about why Shelly had blown a kiss to it. Had she added some new type of magic to the book, hoping for her brown-haired rival to get stronger, and why did Lucy get such an eerie vibe from the new spells that she had seen? They all felt so powerful, yet had such ghostly sides to them. These spells seemed to be darker in nature, much like how Shelly was evil while Lucy was good, and the blonde mage was still going to try and beat Shelly down with them.

In fact, she looked fired up to take down her rival for giving Sting another kiss as well. She had hated the fact that Shelly kissed Sting's lips back in Mintochoko Town, as punishment for Lucy's bad judgement, and seeing the tanned woman kiss his cheek was like a sign that Shelly was really taking a liking to how she could push Lucy's buttons. The sponsors had seen the massively large floods of scalding hot water, not knowing that the dark guild known as Aqua Kyogre had been the main cause of it, but they couldn't just cancel the Grand Magic Games before they had even started. After all, the organization holding this event would know that many of the spectators would be mad to find out that their tickets would not come with any refunds of jewels if the tournament had to be cancelled.

However, Lucy also knew that the sponsors would not disappoint the remaining guilds that were seeking to be the best in Fiore. This tournament had to go on from its normal format, regardless of any interruptions or drama that might be caused, and Lucy hoped that she would be okay. After all, last year had been pretty scary for her. She was nearly killed by Minerva Orlando in the Naval Battle, arrested because of everything surrounding the Eclipse Project, and the aftermath of everything had left her pretty shaken up. She had wondered where Minerva went, since she did not see her at all in the guild of Sabertooth.

She did not want to be scared of this new type of magic that she was now wielding, despite sensing something strange about it, and Lucy had set the purple book down on the table while she drank some of her white mocha frappuccino. The sweet taste and hot temperature of her coffee were strong enough to snap Lucy out of her thoughts, bringing her back to reality, and she blinked her cocoa brown eyes a few times while Sting had been snapping his fingers in front of her face to see if she would still be in a daze. He was always good at getting her attention, wasn't he?

"Lucy, quit staring out into space like that! I was telling you that there's nothing to worry about, and you probably won't even see Shelly in the stands at this year's tournament. Maybe she just gave you that new type of magic to help you have some kind of an edge over the other competitors, but don't see it as Shelly's magic. It belongs to you now, and the Molding Magic in the book can help you make those spells into your own creations. Shelly may have given you darkness, Lucy, but you can change it into your light." Sting told her in a calm tone while smiling a bit, touching her left hand with his left hand, and he also drank some hot chocolate with whip cream in it to get himself hyped up for the tournament.

He also let Lucy know that she was not alone in this, and that they would be taking on this tournament together. He did not want her to be so fearful about this new type of magic, even though she still did not know what would fully come from using it, and Sting let Lucy know that her new magic from the purple book was now a sign that she could get creative with at least four spells. After all, he had noticed that the book seemed to give Lucy spells that really fitted her perfectly. It never gave her something that she did not think would be effective, and that was Lucy's strength.

Her spells were different from ordinary ones, being shaped differently to work in unorthodox ways at certain times, and they also had very interesting effects. Her abilities were similar to that of Molding Magic, meaning that Lucy could create anything that she wanted to make, and Sting let her know that she did not have to wait for the nature of one type of magic to come into play. The Molding Magic was certainly in the book, but the abilities of the spells coincided with the thoughts from Lucy's heart and mind. She just had to think with some smarts, and everything would be all right.

Sting assured her that everything would end up being okay, and Lucy knew that she could trust him. There were never any doubts about anything, especially when it came to Sting's speeches of confidence being able to really get Lucy happy, and she smiled happily while knowing his words were definitely encouraging. If the spells were created by her thoughts, then maybe the Darkness Magic simply had to work in unpredictable ways. Besides, even if this type of magic had powers that were eerie and dark, Lucy would definitely not be afraid of having a spell that summoned ghosts to help her in battles.

The first day of the Grand Magic Games would be starting at 8:30 in the morning, and the current time was 8:10 in the morning. Lucy thanked Sting for his inspiring speech by giving him a soft kiss on the lips, and she ran out of the coffee shop with her white mocha frappuccino in her left hand. Sting also ran after her with the cup of hot chocolate in his hand, happy to have gotten that sweet kiss from his hot girlfriend, and Sting was definitely going to return the favor to her. He had also wanted to see Lucy fight, showing everyone the results of her training with him, and Sting knew that Lucy would not let him down.

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><p><strong>15 minutes later...<strong>

Sting watched his girlfriend quickly check her appearance in the reflection of a glass window nearby, and he smiled while his blue eyes scanned her from head to toe. She wore a light pink shirt with a red miniskirt to match, and her strawberry pink high heels made her look even more appealing. Lucy also had a pink bow in her hair, and she giggled when she turned to face Sting. Her beautiful blonde hair was also tied into a ponytail on the right side of her head, and Lucy knew that she had to look her best while being determined to do her best as well.

"You always look great, no matter what. If you get chosen to battle today, Lector and I will cheer for you like crazy! I can already tell that you're going to win, no matter who your opponent is or what the event is. Just give it everything that you've got, and deliver a grand slam of moves down on the other teams! Keep your attitude high, and there's no way that you'll go down!" The white dragon slayer told her with a smile on his face, before grinning confidently and giving his girlfriend a thumbs-up while winking with his right eye.

"Thank you, Sting! I'm going to compete today for Sabertooth, and I'm going to win for both of us! Sorry if I seemed totally depressed earlier, but now I really want to beat Fairy Tail because it'll make me feel like I'm stronger than my past self! I want to do good for you, Sting, and I won't lose! With you cheering me on, I know that my courage will be there. You're my inspiration, Sting." She responded with strong emotions in her voice while still looking fierce and feeling confidence rising up from inside her.

Sting understood her reasons for wanting to participate today, and he really did like that fierce look of passion and excitement in her violet eyes. He gave her a soft kiss on the lips for good luck, and she blushed a light shade of pink before returning the kiss and feeling Sting lightly wrap his arms around her waist. They certainly were a pretty cute couple, and Lucy always loved how Sting cared about her. He didn't want her to be depressed on the first day of a big competition like this, and she was not going to let her worries get in the way of her determination to make Sabertooth be the best.

Lucy's belief that she could win, combined with her determination to take Sting's advice about making new spells, caused her purple book to emit violet beams of light while it began to glow. She widened her eyes in shock at the sight of this happening, especially since it got the attention of some people who were passing by, and Lucy opened up the book while she ran to the Domus Flau with Sting. She turned to the sixth section of the book where the Darkness Magic was located, seeing the characters of the sixth language, and three new spells had appeared.

She couldn't exactly read everything perfectly while running at a fast pace, just seeing the violet text on the first three pages of Darkness Magic continue to glow, and Lucy wondered what these spells would be like. She could still hear Sting's advice resonating in her mind, letting her know that the book did not control her spells. If she was the book's master, then she controlled it. She smiled a bit, having confidence in her cocoa brown eyes while knowing that she could freely decide what the spells would be, and the blonde girl would not let these three spells go to waste.

However, Lucy did not know that her Darkness Magic was part of a little partnership that made it be on two sides. Shelly could also give Lucy some spells whenever she really needed them, and the black-haired woman did play an important role here. While Lucy could clearly think up the looks for the spells, she somewhat lacked the power to back them up. Shelly's dark nature could supply her spells with that strong power, and this type of magic had a few nice non-spell abilities. Lucy or Shelly could teleport through moonlight, and both girls were also capable of eating moonlight. They could also absorb gravity while using this dark magic, too.

They had managed to catch up with the other members of Team Sabertooth, looking totally ready to win today, and Lucy did not plan to lose. She knew that people could volunteer to participate in the events, but the sponsors would choose the pairings for the battles. Would Lucy be chosen to battle today, and what would the event end up being like? She was getting really psyched up for this, ready to do well for Sting, and Lucy would let her feelings shine through to him with her magic. However, would that shine be bright or dark?

As Team Sabertooth kept running towards the arena, Lucy and Sting had unknowingly passed by Lisanna. She looked a bit startled to see them all run past her at such high speeds, but then the blue-eyed girl managed to regain her composure. Both of the Fairy Tail teams were still on their way to the Domus Flau, making the white-haired mage be the first one to arrive, and she smirked a bit while hoping that her plan would go into action. It did involve Natsu, too, and she had thought that working together with the other team of fairies would definitely help their relationship. It would probably also help her find out about the secrets that Natsu had been hiding, too.

Even though both mages were in the same guild, Lisanna knew that her boyfriend would be on one of the opposing teams facing off against Team Fairy Tail B. She didn't plan to show him any mercy if they had to face off against each other, and his actions as a jerk had certainly caused Natsu to make quite the list of enemies in his own guild. He wanted to fix things with everyone, but he had to first prove some good social skills to Lisanna for the others to possibly see that he was not a total jerk. Of course, Lisanna also knew that not everyone would be so quick to forgive Natsu. He had only been thinking of his new happiness while he had cheated on Lucy, so getting on good terms with her would possibly make everyone else see him a a good guy. Could this plan of being drama-free even work, though? Lisanna was smart, but was she smart enough to set it in motion?

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><p><strong>40 minutes later…<strong>

The time had finally arrived for the inauguration of the Grand Magic Games in the year X792, and there were balloons of many colors being released into the air. Spectators filled the many rows of seats in the Domus Flau, and the guild masters were in the stadium's booths along with non-competing members of their respective guilds. The announcer and judges were in a booth near the king's booth, and Chapati Lola looked excited about the Grand Magic Games while he turned on his microphone and tested it to make sure that it was working.

"Welcome to the Grand Magic Games of X792, everyone! Once again, we're all here to decide the best guild in Fiore! Fairy Tail's win last year was exciting to see, but can they win again and keep their success going? Will someone else rise to the top? Let's get ready to see the eight competing teams!" Chapati announced excitedly, causing the spectators in the arena to cheer and roar. Even he looked thrilled for this annual tournament to be transpiring once again, since last year was really dramatic, and he wondered if this year was going to be filled with surprises.

"I hope that everyone competes fairly this year. We don't want to have to disqualify anyone and ban them for three years like we had to do with Team Raven Tail last year." Yajima commented sternly, hoping no one would be foolish enough to cheat. In fact, this year, the Domus Flau had cameras on all of its statues to monitor and zoom in on every move of the competitors and their teammates. There was no way that anybody would be canceling out someone else's magic to help another team win, since the security was also composed of mages who could pinpoint the location of magic as soon as it was activated in any way.

"I certainly hope Blue Pegasus will be competing again. After all, Eve's Snow Magic managed to save many people from meeting a death that would've been caused by scalding hot water. The coldness of his snow had cooled down the water, especially after the snow had melted into the water, so I'd hate to see our efforts go to waste. Although, I still do wonder about the people who caused that flood. They must be wanting attention, or a spot in the news section of the next issue of Sorcerer Magazine." Jenny Realight said with a happy smile on her face, as she waved to the crowd.

Then, the teams were getting ready to be announced. They would be announced in ascending order from the last full team that reached the Domus Flau to the first complete team who managed to get here. Since there were no preliminaries, due to Shelly's crew using their large amounts of scalding hot water to leave eight certain teams in the competition for it to be rigged into their favor, and the people who had managed to survive those large floods would be able to participate in the tournament. Some people even thought that yesterday's flooding of Crocus with boiling water actually was the preliminary round, too.

The first group to be announced was Team Quatro Cerberus, who had gotten 8th place this time around. Their team consisted of Bacchus, Rocker, Nobarly, Yaeger, and Semmes. Hopefully, for their sake, they wouldn't have to be renamed Team Quatro Puppy like last year.

Next, was Team Mermaid Heel. They came in 7th place, and the mages on the team were Kagura, Milliana, Beth, Risley, and Arania. Could they achieve fourth place at the end like they did last year?

After them, a new team came out of the dark hallway and the members of this team would be surprising to see. Their presence had shocked the crowd in a big way, even making the judges give off looks of total disbelief, and it was Shelly's group from the guild known as Aqua Kyogre. This team consisted of Shelly and four other girls, mostly since the boss of Aqua Kyogre had used a Water Clone of a guild inspector to approve Aqua Kyogre as a light guild for the tournament, and let's just say that this guild had some pretty dark motives. (The other four members of Team Aqua Kyogre shall be introduced later on in the competition, just so you know.)

Following them, was Team Blue Pegasus. Jenny immediately stood up to applaud her teammates for getting 5th place, and she smiled at Hibiki, Ren, Eve, Ichiya, and Nichiya. Many people were also cheering for Team Blue Pegasus because of the fact that Eve had used his Snow Magic to cool down the hot water, not knowing that Lucy had later used her Water Magic to simply absorb the cooled water into her hands, and even some kids were cheering for Blue Pegasus. Could Hibiki's calculations be able to work this year, or would his data need to be updated?

Afterwards, Team Lamia Scale came out on to the battlefield of the Domus Flau. Ooba Babasaama scolded them for getting 4th place again, but then she saw the reason why when Chelia Blendy kept on clumsily tripping over her own feet.

Then, Team Fairy Tail A arrived in the Domus Flau. Erza, Natsu, Laxus, Gajeel, Gray, and Juvia heard the tremendous roars of the crowd since Fairy Tail had won last year. They had confident smiles on their faces that told everyone that they planned to win again this year, and Natsu posed triumphantly for the crowd. He roared up at the crowd that Fairy Tail could beat the pants off of anyone, causing them to positively cheer his name as a response, and the fire dragon slayer was secretly hoping that Lisanna's team was running late.

However, he just had to tempt fate for his high hopes to come crashing down. Surprisingly, the next team to arrive was Team Fairy Tail B. It consisted of Lisanna, Mirajane, Elfman, Cana, and Jellal. The crowd cheered for them as well, since they also represented Fairy Tail. Natsu immediately gulped with embarrassment, as this now put his team in third place, but he was still glad to know that Lisanna was here. He had now been thinking about her, not even wondering where Marina was, and the fire dragon slayer also had a smug look on his face while thinking that Lucy and Sting drowned in the flood yesterday.

With the 2nd place team announced, only one team remained unknown. Natsu laughed while having an arrogant look on his face, thinking that Lucy had been the one who slowed Sabertooth down, and he thought that they definitely would not be in the tournament. He also wanted to laugh at the assumption of Sting, his greatest rival, having to watch the Grand Magic Games from the spectator seats. Natsu literally began to laugh about the fact that Sabertooth had practically forfeited to Fairy Tail last year, but he had tempted fate once again.

Finally, it was Team Sabertooth's time to step out on to the field. The six members were walking down the dark hallway towards the bright light that led to the battlefield where everyone else was waiting to see the team that had been the first to arrive at the Domus Flau. Yukino was still going to walk out there with her teammates, despite being a reserve member for the team, and she also calmly smiled while looking at Lucy's purple spell book. That was the color of royalty, victory, and that is what Sabertooth would possibly be able to achieve.

Sting and Lucy were holding hands and smiling, as they arrived on the field with their teammates to see all the other teams they were competing against during the Grand Magic Games. The crowd cheered for Team Sabertooth, and some of the spectators even recognized Lucy from seeing her name in the newspaper because of all the jobs that she had been completing in Fiore and in faraway lands. Even Runo Sabaku from the Desert Resort was in the stands of the Domus Flau, and she simply smirked at the sight of the blonde girl who had taken down an elite Earth Dragon Slayer such as herself.

Lucy blushed a light shade of pink and seemed a little bit nervous from all of her opponents staring at her, especially since people like Kagura Mikazuchi and Lyon Vastia looked eager to fight her since they had obviously heard the stories of her enormous power. Her presence also made Shelly have a confident smirk on her face, happy to see that her plan to help Sabertooth be in the main tournament had worked, and the sight of the tanned woman had made Lucy now have a serious facial expression. She could not believe that Shelly managed to get into the Grand Magic Games, since the dark guilds were supposedly not allowed to compete, and now the ferocity was truly on.

Natsu asked Lucy with an annoyed facial expression, pointing his left index finger straight at her while he pointed his right index finger at Shelly, "Why in the world are you trying to stare at that chick, yet you ignore me like the fights in Fairy Tail and Sabertooth had never happened!? Why does that girl get your intense glare, Lucy, yet you treat me like I'm nothing to you right now? Also, who in the world is she? I could hear the crowd being shocked about something, but is she some famous person? Also, why is this tension seeming like you two have a history with each other?!"

Sting quickly shielded Lucy in an attempt to threaten Natsu to not mess with her, but she motioned for him to step aside before folding her arms and closing her eyes while countering Natsu's statement with a sharp tongue and a harsh look, "You're so interested in this new conflict, yet it has nothing to do with you. My business is not for you to be poking your nose into, especially since you can't beat me and Shelly can probably take you out with at least one hit as well, so don't even try to know anything about me. When you cheated on me with Lisanna, that showed me that you wanted to do with me. Sting is my boyfriend, and you're just the trashy ex that I really can't stand."

At that moment, most of the other mages let out a big "Ooooh!" in unison at her words towards Natsu. Even the crowd and the judges were impressed by such an image-shattering comeback like that, and Lucy looked pretty happy to receive high-fives from Yukino and Shelly for her remarks. Orga, Rufus, and Sting also high-fived her for what she had said. Natsu looked totally shocked by this, dropping his jaw at the fact that Lucy told him off with ease, and the fire dragon slayer gulped anxiously when Shelly deviously smirked at him to let him know that he was definitely wrong to throw out Lucy like a total fool.

Gajeel, Laxus, and even Gray continued to laugh. Of course, Gray had always enjoyed seeing Natsu get told by anybody. The ice mage was also proud of Lucy for being able to stand up for herself like that, and Gray was personally rooting for her to win if she ever got matched up against Natsu in this five-day tournament. He knew that she was really strong with the power of that mysterious book, and Gray did not know that the book was also benefiting the power of Lucy's Celestial Spirits as well. After all, let's just say that Aries would not be sorry when a certain type of magic would be used with her golden key.

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><p><strong>5 minutes later...<strong>

After all the laughter ceased, a stone tablet rose up from the ground and it had the program for the five days of the Grand Magic Games on it. The events would happen before the battles on each day, except the fifth day where the event was the survival tournament that involved battles. Everyone wondered what the first event would end up being like, since they would never know what the event was until the judges had announced it, and some of the events could actually end up being pretty illogical or have insane twists.

To remind all the competitors that the Grand Magic Games were not just an assortment of mental and physical challenges, the first event was known as "Appealing Ace." For events, the teams could select a member to participate instead of the sponsors deciding. Everybody wanted to have those ten points right off the bat, most likely to have a sense of security for when the battles would come around, but they didn't even know what the event was about. Could this event be good or bad for Team Sabertooth, and how difficult would it be?

Team Quatro Cerebus had selected Yaeger, Beth had volunteered for Mermaid Heel, Eve Team stepped forward for Blue Pegasus, Lyon decided to do this for Lamia Scale, prompting Gray Fullbuster from Team Fairy Tail A to also step forward. A girl named Mizu Burū was told by Shelly to volunteer for Team Aqua Kyogre, and she had long brown hair that reached down to her waist. Her eyes were green, and she wore a simple pink T-shirt with some green shorts. While Lucy volunteered for Team Sabertooth, wanting to impress Sting, she was happy to see her boyfriend give her a friendly smile while he knew that she would do her best.

While Lucy had walked out on to the sandy battlefield, Shelly could only look down at her rival to see if she would be showing off her best skills. Shelly wanted to see Lucy at her very best, hoping that her blonde rival would be worthy enough to put on a very good performance, and the tanned woman had a calm look in her blue eyes while focusing her attention down on the brown-eyed girl. Even though it was only the first day of the Grand Magic Games, let's just say that Shelly would be quite sneaky while she still looked sexy in her Aqua Kyogre uniform.

As Shelly had even thought about asking Lucy to join Aqua Kyogre, the blonde mage looked pretty psyched up about winning this event for Team Sabertooth. It was true that she hadn't tested out the Darkness Magic at all, making it have to be used for the first time in a critical matter like this, but the unknown had pulled through for her in nearly every situation. This event may have had twists to it, but her magic also had twists to it as well. Lucy was able to work with her magic every time, and adapting to the event would not be as difficult as it seemed to be.

In an instant, Mato commanded the field to magically open up and a large stage appeared in the middle of the sandy battlefield. The stage had beautiful red curtains that rose up to reveal that there was absolutely nothing or no one on it, and the spotlights turned on to shine on the center of the wooden floor. Gray hoped that they wouldn't have to perform in a dance-off or something like that, since dancing was not exactly his best skill. There were mic stands or microphones, so singing also would not be a part of this event.

"For those of you who don't know how to play this game, I'll explain the rules! Myself, Yajima-san, and the beautiful Jenny Realight from Team Blue Pegasus will be the judges in this event! Each competitor must go up on that stage and make their magic look appealing to the audience, but only three moves per mage are allowed. You will get a score for your performance, and the person who gets a perfect 10 gets ten points! Last place gets zero points, by the way. Now, let the event commence!" Chapati announced while looking thrilled for what was to come.

Looking pretty confident about this while knowing that Shelly had guaranteed that the scheme was sure to work, Mizu Burū went up on the stage first. She smiled happily while making two spiraling beams of water emerge from her hands, and they both went upward into the air while curving in opposite directions to go away from each other. The beams of water proceeded to now go towards each other, though, being manipulated by the movements of Mizu's hands, and the water formed the shape of a heart. The judges found her routine to be interesting, so they gave her an 8 out of 10 for creativity and precision with her magic.

The next person to go up on the stage was Lyon Vastia from Team Lamia Scale. He used his Ice-Make Magic to create three falcons out of ice, and they flew through the air for a few moments. When they descended into the ground, the ice falcons cracked into pieces. The judges gave Lyon a 6 out of 10, giving his team six points, and they got third place in the event. Gray grinned with confidence, knowing that he could do much better, and he narrowed his dark blue eyes while making various weapons out of ice. He threw them all into the air, watching them hit each other, but a certain black-haired woman from Aqua Kyogre was quite good at making it rain. She had thrown a bubble of water into the air, making it briefly rain down on the stage where Gray stood, but the rain's properties made it be like metal that broke all of his weapons into pieces. One piece of ice even landed on his left foot, causing him pain while the judges cringed at the sight of this, and they gave him a zero out of ten.

Having a creative yet simple idea, Eve Tearm from Team Blue Pegasus used his Snow Magic to easily create a snowman. While Jenny found it to be delightful, Chapati wasn't all that thrilled by something that he could see when Christmas came around. Eve received a 4 out of 10, earning four points for Blue Pegasus, and they were currently in fourth place. Beth Vanderwood from Team Mermaid Heel used her Carrot Magic to obviously produce carrots, and simply eating one of them caused Chapati to look disinterested. He only gave her a three out of ten, giving Mermaid Heel three points.

Yaeger from Team Quatro Cerberus used his Plant Magic to summon a flytrap out of the ground, only to have it eat a fly that passed by for a moment, and Chapati looked utterly bored by something that he could see when he visited a botanical garden. The judges gave two points to Yaeger, putting Team Quatro Cerberus in sixth place, and that left only two competitors remaining. There was also a high score and low score still available, but only one person would emerge with victory while the other would be forced to go down in defeat. The pressure was certainly on, was it not?

Cana from Team Fairy Tail B threw her Whirlpool Card down on the floor when she had gone on stage, making a large whirlpool of water appear beneath her feet, and she quickly used a Surfboard Card to clearly make an orange surfboard be beneath her feet. She began to do some surfboarding tricks while circling around in the whirlpool, but Shelly had used her own Water Magic to make Cana's whirlpool start bubbling while its temperature had risen. The water became hotter, ultimately bursting in a large blast, and Cana was sent flying out of the stadium. Due to that "screw up", Cana only got a 1 out of 10.

After Cana had dispelled the effects of her cards and left the stage, Lucy had motivation in her cocoa brown eyes from realizing that she was the only competitor left. Luckily for her, ten was the only remaining score for whatever she did. It would easy to do something simple, still getting the highest amount of points, but that's not what Lucy was going to do. She wanted to impress Sting, show him how powerful she could be with her new spells, and Lucy was going to show Natsu that she was far from a weakling. She was also going to show Shelly that she was powerful enough to use this given magic in her own way.

She shouted with strong emotions after running up on to the stage with a fierce look on her face, opening her purple spell book once again while pulling out the key of Aries, "Gate of the Ram, I open thee! Aries! I call upon thee as well, the first spell of Darkness Magic in the purple book, Dark Conversion!"

This spell caused the clear blue sky to turn black like the nighttime, having the white moon replace the yellow sun, and a violet aura surrounded Lucy's body. She also lost consciousness for a few moments, not knowing that her eyes had turned amethyst purple to represent the appearance of the magic taking over her mind while this spell was being used, and Lucy smirked deviously while a purple sphere of Darkness Magic formed in her right hand. She surprisingly shoved it in her mouth, swallowing it whole, and then Lucy began to levitate from the effects of Dark Conversion.

The blonde mage had also made use of Aries, nicely telling the pink-haired ram to create three large walls of pink wool, and Aries gave Lucy an apology for her wool possibly being too fluffy. As a side effect of this spell, she was able to make some gravity come down upon the wool walls and cause massive purple blasts of energy to occur. She had great control over the gravity, manipulating it to strike certain areas, and that led right into her appeal. The purple blasts were definitely an amazing sight to see, but the crowd was even more pleased to see that Lucy's spell made all of the wool created by Aries turn into beautiful pink glitter.

Lucy's second spell was known as Dark Crescent, and this spell made Lucy have three purple crescent-moon shaped projectiles in each hand. She threw them all up into the air while Aries fired balls of wool from her hands at Lucy's projectiles, and the soft wool had now encased the blades. Many people curiously wondered about what would happen, and they all looked shocked to suddenly see the crescent moon blades explode into more violet blasts of energy! The first side effect of this spell caused Lucy to send down gravity to the ground with a single exhale of air, and the second side effect made the many balls of damaged wool float in beautiful circles that were up in the sky.

The other competitors could feel the effects of the spell weighing down on them, making them lie flat on the ground with enormous amounts of pressure on them, but that was nothing compared to what Lucy's third spell was able to do. It was known as Dark Fireworks, and this move caused the violet aura surrounding Lucy's body to shoot up into the air. It came down upon the sandy battlefield in the form of falling violet torpedoes, creating a copious amount of violet explosions that made some purple smoke appear, but it wasn't going to have any toxic side effects.

Since her three moves were done, Lucy closed the purple spell book to cancel the Dark Fireworks attack. The sky turned back to being a beautiful shade of blue with the sun shining high in the air, and the blonde mage's amethyst purple eyes returned to their cocoa brown color while gravity made her float down on to the sandy battlefield. Everyone looked pretty impressed by what Lucy had just done, even though she curiously looked around to see what she had really done, and she gasped in shock at the sight of her other competitors being hurt pretty badly. The Dark Fireworks spell had struck them, since that was from Shelly's brawn and not Lucy's brain, you know.

"Wow, that was really amazing! Sabertooth is pretty strong, now that Lucy Heartfilia is with them! Her team receives 10 points, and that power definitely gives her a perfect score of 10! Could the immense gravity portend Sabertooth's comeback from last year? Let's see, folks!" Chapati announced with an excited facial expression, shocked to see that Lucy had so much power.

The blonde mage was very surprised to find out that those three spells had been used in such powerful ways with dexterity and grace that had pleased the crowd, prompting Lucy to wonder why she could not see the mental images of those moves, but she had never imagined that using this new magic for the first time would help her group have the first win in the Grand Magic Games. Lucy jumped up into Sabertooth's booth where all of her friends were waiting for her, and Sting happily hugged her for helping the Sabertooth guild earn their first victory. She was glad to have helped her team win, but all of that power in her moves just felt so different to her.

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><p><strong>10 minutes later…<strong>

When the competitors from the event went up to the booths where their teams were waiting, everyone could only talk about Lucy's fierce determination to win since she had nearly destroyed the other competitors and obliterated the stage with her spells of Darkness Magic. Who would be against her in the battle part, if she were chosen to battle today? The battles had time limits of 30 minutes, and the winner would get 10 points while the loser would receive zero. A draw would result in five points for both teams, to keep things fair, but would everyone be playing fair?

Speaking of battles, the battle part had begun with Gajeel Redfox from Team Fairy Tail A facing off against Nobarly from Team Quatro Cerberus. Gajeel had slammed him into the wall with a simple Iron Dragon's Roar, knocking him out and quickly ending the match. Team Fairy Tail A received 10 points for winning while now being tied with Team Sabertooth for first place, but Team Quatro Cerberus was still down in sixth place with two points. They certainly were a pathetic team to have one of their members taken out by one attack, right?

The second battle pitted Rufus Lohr from Team Sabertooth against Beth Vanderwood from Team Mermaid Heel. The young country girl tried attacking him with her Carrot Missiles, but Rufus used his Memory-Make Magic to make a clone of himself for Beth to attack. He then smirked a bit while proceeding to end the match with a combination of Lucy's skills with his abilities. He used a new move called Ignited Sparks, and it made several red fireballs come down from the sky to attack Beth while a red aura surrounded the body of her opponent. She took massive damage, and was knocked out. Rufus won the match, thus making his guild now have twenty points while Beth's guild still only had three. Team Mermaid Heel was now down in sixth place, sadly.

The next match had Jura Neekis from Lamia Scale up against Eve Tearm from Team Blue Pegasus. The blond young man attempted to use White Fang to strike Jura, only to have the Wizard Saint easily defeat him by using Iron Rock Fist to slam him against a wall with tremendous force. Eve fell to the ground, and Jura was declared the winner of the match. Team Lamia Scale now had sixteen points to now be in second place, but Team Blue Pegasus got nothing from the match while they were in fourth place. Jenny was noticeably upset, but Jura was quite a strong opponent.

The final match of the day put Mirajane Strauss from Team Fairy Tail B up against Mizu Burū from Team Aqua Kyogre. Mirajane had transformed into her normal Satan Soul form to start things off, and she then proceeded to use Soul Extinction to end this in one shot. However, as Mira fired the tremendous attack down at her opponent, she could only look shocked to see Mizu use her Water Body ability to stretch upward while using her Water Magic to freeze her own left hand. She detached it from herself, throwing it at Mira, and the white-haired woman was immediately frozen like an ice sculpture when her large tail had tried to deflect Mizu's frozen hand. Mira was sent crashing down to the ground, unable to battle, and Mizu won the match to gain ten more points for Aqua Kyogre.

Shelly smirked evilly while looking over at the Fairy Tail teams, satisfied that her plan to throw off Fairy Tail's game had started to work, and the blue-eyed woman had heard all about how Marina had been using Natsu while making him cheat on Lisanna as well. Shelly was greatly impressed by how low Marina could go, knowing full well that Mizu had also made the fairies be on ice, and the people in Fairy Tail would possibly start blaming losses on each other as the days would progress. This would let Shelly have Lucy all to herself for a while, helping her rival get stronger, and she saw it as a good idea to keep using Sting as Lucy's motivation. Really, was she not a good villain?

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><p>With the first day complete, Team Sabertooth decided to go to a restaurant and celebrate. Sting had already ran off before Lucy could catch up with him, and she still did not know what had happened with her Darkness Magic. It seemed like she had been taken over by a different presence, the air feeling much colder around her while she was casting the spells, and Lucy looked a little bit scared when she had remembered how the other competitors were wounded by her spells. She hadn't intended to do something like that, but why had she done it?<p>

She was pretty lucky to have not used the fourth spell for the appealing event, as it was named Gravitational Slingshot, and this spell would have made Lucy have a purple slingshot in her hands while a ball of gravity would be in the slingshot. Lucy could fire the gravity ball anywhere, but the target would also be affected by it. If she fired it upward, for example, the target would be levitated high up to receive the gravity ball's ferocious attack that would result in a purple explosion transpiring. Killing the other competitors was not allowed, and doing it on the first day would have made Team Sabertooth get disqualified.

Lucy quickly looked inside the purple book to find that the other four spells had been written, most likely resulting from Darcy's darkness, and she could see the effects of every spell in her mind. The fifth spell of Darkness Magic could be used to alter a target's gravity, making it lighter for the ability to float up high in the air, but then they would come down and cause a violet blast of energy to transpire. This spell was known as Darkness Scale, by the way. It sure seemed like a heavy ability to have around, right?

The sixth spell could give Lucy the ability to use moonlight to restore her magical power, and it could also restore her physical strength. A violet aura would surround her body, increasing her powers to new heights, but the aura only lasted for thirty seconds. The drawback of this spell known as Nightly Heal was that she couldn't use any other ones while it was in effect. It did give her some durability, though, meaning it was more to be used as a defensive move. Quite interesting of Darcy to have that, right?

The seventh spell could give Lucy or Darcy the ability to make a purple drill of Darkness Magic surround their left hand, and it was a simple close-range move that could drill through an opponent's body. The side effect of this spell, however, would cause opponents to feel tired and want to sleep. That played nicely into the final spell that was simply known as Nightmare Eater, and it could be used only on sleeping foes to cause massive damage to them while Darcy or Lucy could refill their magical power by absorbing dreams. The side effect of this spell would make the opponent awake, however.

Suddenly, Lucy had her blonde hair covering her cocoa brown eyes. The violet text of these final four spells began to glow from within her purple book, and a sinister grin formed on her face. She began to let out a sweet little giggle about something, blushing a light shade of pink at the thought of it, and she could feel the gravity in her hands. It was so immense like the power she was wielding, and purple was such a cute color. When Lucy saw the name of the eighth spell, also seeing its tremendous and ghastly effect, she knew that using a sinister spell like this one against Natsu would make her feel so good.

Shelly asked the blonde female in a calm tone while catching up with her, as everyone else had been walking down the long path to reach the city of Crocus, " "Hello, Lucy. Are you enjoying the Darkness Magic that I gave you? Do you feel the badness flowing through you yet, and isn't your new power just enjoyable to have?"

Lucy replied in a dark tone, her eyes turning amethyst purple while she began to smirk in a vicious manner, "This magic definitely came from you, Shelly, and it is such a destructive tool to be using. The darkness should be bad to me, yet it felt so good to be using it in that event. We're both rivals, since you kissed my boyfriend to make me jealous, but we should team up sometime. In the survival tournament, we can take down Natsu together and make him pay for what he did to me. I finally have my chance at true revenge, and I'll enjoy the moment when I can get it."

As Shelly kept walking with Lucy, happy that the Darkness Magic was capable of bringing out her rival's bad side, the black-haired woman smiled at the fact that Aqua Kyogre would get all of its power from a guild like Sabertooth. They were the perfect allies to have, even acting friendly to unknown spies that were in their prestigious guild, and Shelly also knew that an important rule had now come into play. The enemy of her enemy was her friend, and that simply meant that Shelly would make sure that Lucy helped her give Fairy Tail quite a thrashing.

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><p><strong><strong>How was the 18th chapter? Did you like it? The Grand Magic Games have finally begun, and Sabertooth is off to a good start. Sorry about not giving much StiCy and NaLi into this chapter, but let's just say that the next chapter is where one love is bright while the other is met with a complication that puts it to the test. <strong>Will Sting's conflict with Natsu heat up? When Natsu has to face a certain girl in a battle, will Lisanna finally see that something is going on between them? Standby for the update!<strong>****


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Faith in The Purple Book, Unfaithful In A Love Triangle<strong>

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><p>Lucy woke up in her room that she shared with Yukino at the inn, and she had been trying to feel better about the new Darkness Magic that she could use. She felt the sunlight's warmth come down on her face, prompting her to smile as it reminded her of the day she had promised herself that she would become a stronger person. Today was the 2nd day of the Grand Magic Games, and Lucy looked determined to win again like she had done yesterday. Not only for her sake, but to show Sting that they hadn't trained so hard for nothing.<p>

She wanted to make him feel pleased with her, liking her new talents, and Lucy loved to hear Sting be proud of her. He had even congratulated her last night for winning the first event of the Grand Magic Games, and Lucy had giggled a bit while blushing when he had also given her a gentle kiss on the cheek. She loved to know that Sting was supporting her throughout this tournament, and he would also help her out with the mysteries of her strange book of spells. Lucy did need his help with the Darkness Magic, after all, and he was a very insightful person when it came to seeing how her spells worked.

Truth be told, she actually felt a bit nervous about unleashing that type of magic again because of how it made her lose consciousness while the presence of darkness had taken over her mind. The spells certainly were pretty powerful like all the other moves in the other five types of magic, but at least they were controlled enough to not hurt people. She still could not fathom how the spells had managed to hurt the other competitors in the first event on the first day of the Grand Magic Games, especially when the event was about appealing with spells. She wasn't trying to be evil like Shelly, so what had happened?

The Darkness Magic had made Lucy's book turn purple because of Shelly, as the brown-eyed girl remembered while wanting to know why her rival would put such destructive power into her hands, and Lucy tightly clenched her fists while determination came into her cocoa brown eyes. She had guessed that Shelly had given her that new power to make Sting be a bit more freaked out, possibly thinking that the white dragon slayer would leave Lucy because she gained such vicious power, but Lucy knew that her boyfriend would never leave her side. Sting was loyal to her, and he always would be.

This type of magic did have a dark feel to it, as Aries had told Lucy when she summoned herself at dinner last night to tell the celestial wizard about what had transpired, and the pink-haired spirit told her owner that she was sorry for not being as powerful as the spells in the purple book. Lucy did not mind that Aries was not powerful, smiling happily about the fact that her pink wool was mainly used for defensive purposes, and the blonde mage was very glad that her Darkness Magic had the clever idea of combining a fierce offense with a fluffy defense.

Even though Shelly and the rest of Aqua Kyogre wanted to get their hands on that book, Lucy still found it strange that her black-haired rival had not just taken the book from her. She had quite a few chances to steal it, especially when she would be the stronger of the two in their battles, but Shelly had been hoping for Lucy to improve. She wanted her to have enough power to help Aqua Kyogre succeed with their goal, seeing her as the perfect contributor, and Shelly had even thought of Lucy as her younger apprentice when it came to Water Magic. Still, Shelly just had to push Lucy's buttons to make her keep on having such a fierce attitude.

Lucy put her thoughts about Shelly aside for a moment, however, and she still could not believe the luck that Fairy Tail had on their first day. Gray and Cana started off good in the first event, until something had messed with their chances of winning points for their teams, and Mira had gotten frozen solid in her match with Mizu from Aqua Kyogre. Elfman and Lisanna had to come down from Team Fairy Tail B's booth to pick up their older sister, and they had ran over to the booth where Team Fairy Tail A. It was pretty obvious to Lucy that they had made Natsu spend his time defrosting Mira, and it was also obvious that Aqua Kyogre was filled with people who were just as dangerous as the briny beasts in the ocean.

The blonde mage slowly got out of bed to see that the bathroom light was on with the sliding door closed, and Yukino hummed happily while taking a shower. Lucy thought that it would be rude to intrude on her like that to just greet her, and the blonde mage had a soft smile on her face while knowing that she could wait. She was still happy to be in the Grand Magic Games with Yukino and the rest of her new crew, prompting Lucy to happily dance around for a few seconds. She hoped that her new guild would win this thing, and she would definitely try to be a good contributor.

As she smiled with happiness in her brown eyes, going over to the window to open it for some fresh air, Sting exclaimed in a confident manner while entering the room with all of his other teammates, "Good morning, Lucy! I hope you're totally psyched up about today, especially since it's the second day of the Grand Magic Games! We won't have a repeat of last year where we got absolutely no points at all, and I plan to dedicate my new moves to you! I hope you'll like my strategies today, my sweet cupcake. This is definitely the first day of redemption for Sabertooth, Lucy!"

Lucy replied happily while running over to Sting to give him a hug of delight, happiness twinkling in her cocoa brown eyes, "Sting, you are the sweetest guy that I have ever met! You are so awesome, and I will definitely be rooting for you. I don't know what the event will be this year, but I know that either you or me can do well in it if we believe in ourselves and go forth with unyielding determination. After all, that's what a winning team is all about. Besides, we are not alone in this. The rest of our team is going to help Sabertooth win, and we'll all work together while our hearts beat as one!"

While Lucy got the purple spell book out of the bottom drawer of the nearby brown dresser, she blushed a bit from hearing her stomach growl loudly once again. If her feelings were talking to Sting, then her stomach could do it as well. He chuckled a bit from hearing her belly bark, but Sting knew that it was natural for his girlfriend to now have an appetite. She had absorbed Earth Dragon Slayer Magic in the Desert Resort, you know, and that probably made Lucy have the giant appetite of a dragon slayer as well. That would certainly help when she needed to restore her energy, though.

She had also made a green tornado of wind surround only her body while the wind helped her changed clothes, censoring her body for a few moments, and the tornado quickly vanished to reveal Lucy's new outfit. She wore a simple orange T-shirt with a purple miniskirt, and her flat shoes were blue. She always was pretty fashionable, and Sting smiled at her choice of colors. As her stomach growled once more for food, Lucy ran out of the room with everyone else while knowing that Yukino would catch up with them when she was finished with her shower. Even though Lucy had not bathed yet, she still put on some strawberry perfume to maintain her sweet smell.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile...<strong>

In his room at the inn where Fairy Tail was staying, Natsu had been sleeping soundly while looking very peaceful. He had seemed to be having a good dream, even though Erza made him sleep away from Lisanna to avoid any possibilities of betrayal while they were on opposite teams in the tournament, and Natsu did not even mind that he was alone in the cold bed. It felt so soothing to him, the cold air from last night entering his room, and the fire dragon slayer had only slept with the white bed sheets covering his body.

He had been using his Fire Dragon Slayer Magic to heat himself up, though, and the way that Natsu blushed while letting out a few upward thrusts was enough to let anyone know where his dreams had taken him. Natsu did not share his room with anyone, since the innkeeper told Makarov that a certain teal-haired girl had reserved a single suite for Natsu to be alone, and Erza saw no problem with it because that would keep him from being noisy or causing a loud ruckus that could possibly wake up everyone in the entire city of Crocus.

His clothes were on the floor, meaning that he had simply slept bare, and Natsu continued to blush while being infatuated with his dream. He did not even hear that the shower had been running, nor did he hear someone turn off the water when they were finished taking a bath. Who in the world would want to be in Natsu's bathroom, even though a single and reserved bathroom had more advantages? Just because there was a hot tub with bubbling water in the bathroom, coupled with many shampoo bottles, who would bother going from their own bathroom to visit the room of a jerk like Natsu?

As the sliding door slowly opened, the sound of wet feet walking on the carpet had made Natsu's ears perk up while the smell of blackberry perfume had begun to the reach the nostrils of the pink-haired male. He turned over on the bed, slowly opening his eyes, and the tan male felt like he was dreaming when he saw the beautiful sight in front of him. Marina had a seductive smirk on her face while she was blushing a light shade of pink, the blue towel around her body making her breasts look incredibly gorgeous, as Natsu could see the upper halves of them above where the towel had censored his mistress with the task of manipulation and espionage.

The fire dragon slayer could feel himself getting fired up, blushing as he was now reaching the point of arousal, and his eyes were focused on Marina's hips swaying in a sexy manner while she walked towards the bed. She giggled softly while her green eyes met Natsu's gaze, and Marina let the drops of water expand on her body to make herself be wet all over. She slipped out of the blue towel, now being in the nude while the cold air was giving soft kisses to her skin, and Marina got into the bed with Natsu to get him more awake than he already was.

"Rise and shine, Natsu. You wouldn't want to miss the second day of the Grand Magic Games, especially since your team really needs the redemption to keep up with everyone else. I'm also sure that you would not want to lose to Lucy in a battle, either, so you better get up and get breakfast. If you're not feeling competitive, though, we could just stay here and have a good morning in bed." Marina told Natsu in a kind tone while letting her body push against his as they laid together, her cold and wet breasts pushing against his hot chest while she let her hands rub his abs and go downward to rub something that was very warm.

He replied in a loving manner while looking into her eyes, moaning softly as her hands moved to his back, "I really don't want to miss the battles, Marina, and you were so sweet to wake me up. I'm glad that you finally showed up, since I've been looking all over for you, and it feels great to have you rub my body like this. Let's just stay in bed for a few more moments, though, and I'll enjoy the fact that we're together right now. Things have gone well with Lisanna, and I know that you'll make a big surprise for our anniversary. Next time, though, let's shower together."

Marina could tell that Natsu was still putting his trust in her, falling in a lustful love with her like she was a beautiful mistress, and the teal-haired girl took one of hands in hers before she gave him a soft kiss on the lips while rubbing his warm back. She was glad to be playing him like this, making him put aside the thought of Lisanna, and Marina let Natsu get on top of her while she spread her legs to reveal the way in for him. As Natsu's own heat made him sweat, causing him to look so fired up when he was about to gently thrust into her like when they were once in bed together at Marina's dorm room in Fairy Hills, a soft knock on the door stopped the steamy scene.

Natsu told Marina to hide under the covers while he did not even bother getting dressed, thinking that it was just Erza wanting to make him wake up now, and Natsu went to open the door while Marina sunk down into the wetness of the bed sheets to move through the water. Even touching the tiniest puddle of water was useful for members of Aqua Kyogre to get around, especially since they were all taught how to use Water Body, and let's just say that Marina's status as a double agent was definitely going to be known in this tournament. While she had fled, Natsu quickly opened the door to see Lisanna smiling at him.

The white-haired mage blushed pink from seeing her boyfriend open the door, noting that he was not wearing any clothes, and she gasped in shock from the fact that a certain part of him had grown in size and length. However, she also let her blue eyes observe the fact that it was shrinking while he stared at her with a curious facial expression. That sure made Lisanna gasp in shock while also making her think that Natsu was losing his romantic interest in her, and the youngest Strauss sibling could only assume what she had feared the most.

Her boyfriend had asked her about why she had come to see him, but Lisanna did not even get to reply before Natsu had also asked her if she was ready to help Fairy Tail kick Lucy's butt today. Hearing the blonde mage's name once again had made Lisanna think that Natsu was trying to get her back, especially because of how he said that he would compete in the event today if Sting was in it as well, and the pink-haired male also let Lisanna know that he would beat Sting down in front of Lucy to show her that her supposed betrayal of Fairy Tail would come with punishment. He would also enjoy seeing Lucy cry, too. Really, how could he say she betrayed the guild when he made everyone be on his side in the beginning of all this? Also, wasn't he a total jerk to want his ex to be feeling sad?

As Natsu realized that people might see him, he slammed the door in Lisanna's face to have some privacy while he got dressed for the second day of the Grand Magic Games. The blue-eyed mage felt hurt by what Natsu had said, acting like today was the day where Lucy was supposed to be depressed, and Lisanna hated how he was now focused on beating Lucy. She had even looked worried while imagining Natsu's plan of being strong to make Lucy want him, despite knowing that Lucy deeply hated the fire dragon slayer, and Natsu's desires involving Lucy meant that Lisanna had to keep more of a close eye on him. Also, she certainly did feel suspicious about why he had been erect earlier as well as smelling strongly of blackberries.

* * *

><p><strong>10 minutes later, at the Domus Flau…<strong>

The members of Team Sabertooth had made it to the Domus Flau in time, not wanting to miss any part of the action, and Yukino had finished her shower fast enough to join up with her teammates. She did not want to miss out on today, either, especially since the second day was the day where she had fought Kagura Mikazuchi last year and lost while all of her Celestial Spirits were defeated. Even the great Serpent Bearer known as Ophiuchus was defeated by a single slash of a sheathed sword, and Yukino sadly looked down while remembering how overconfident she had been.

She wasn't the only one who was somewhat down, you know. Lucy still looked a tad bit nervous about the event and battle today, wondering if her Darkness Magic would be as destructive as it was yesterday, but Lucy did not even realize that it would probably end up being her possibly best trump card for when major enemies came around. She hoped that it would listen to her commands, since she had actually wanted yesterday's spells to make purple glitter form the shape of a large heart instead of all those explosions.

Lucy opened the purple spell book to find that the last four spells of Darkness Magic had been written, and she widened her cocoa brown eyes in pure shock. She had no knowledge of ever doing anything to make the book see her personal growth with this type of magic, so why had it given her these four new spells to use? Lucy somehow found them to be useful in their own ways, sensing this eerie feeling from them, and the magic also seemed so strong. However, the names of the spells did not sound explosive at all.

Chapati exclaimed while looking excited about the upcoming action today, "Welcome to the second day of the Grand Magic Games, everybody! Yesterday, Sabertooth showed us how dark and enchanting they can be when it comes to appealing! They are currently in the lead with 20 points, but Team Aqua Kyogre is not too far behind with their score of 18 points! However, Team Lamia Scale is not too far behind in third place with 16 points! Let's see how the fierce battle between these three guilds will turn out, everybody!"

"Sabertooth was certainly impressive on the first day, I'll say that." Yajima commented in a calm tone while folding his arms.

"Hello, people! My name's Jason from Sorcerer Magazine, and I'm the guest judge for the second day! I am definitely going to get the DVD for this year's Grand Magic Games, because Lucy Heartfilia's dark appeal was just so interesting and cool! It was like seeing something from some kind of weird dream, yet it was just so cool!"

The crowd began to cheer wildly, knowing that today's event and battles would probably be exciting and thrilling to watch. All of the teams were in their respective booths, and Shelly looked over at the area where Lucy was located. The woman with aqua blue eyes had her attention focused on her blonde rival, interested in seeing how those last four spells of Darkness Magic would work, and Shelly also had the wonder if she would ever be chosen to battle against Lucy in one of the matches today. If not, then maybe the two women would clash again on the final day in the survival tournament.

Chapati announced that today's event would be known as "Pillar Battle." According to his description of the event, a large pillar of earth would be created from magical power and the contestants would be elevated to its highest heights. On the large top of the pillar, they would have to battle each other with all kinds of spells being allowed. Anyone who fell off the pillar or got knocked out would receive a certain number of points, and this event had some similarities to the Naval Battle from last year. Hopefully, it would not end in a vicious manner like when Minerva had sadistically tortured Lucy to show off the strength of Sabertooth.

Sting told his team with a confident look on his face, smirking mostly at Lucy, "This is totally my area of expertise, guys! I'm gonna make up for what I did last year in the Chariot event, trust me! I'm going to use Holy Ray to make those guys see the light and hit the ground, and there's no way that I'll lose! After all, when it comes to battles, I can give anyone a pretty hard fight!"

Before anyone could even debate with him about it, Sting jumped down on the sandy battlefield and waited to see whom his opponents would be. Even though he had no clue who was going to be selected, Sting told himself to give it 120% since he was doing it for Lucy. After all, she had done the previous event to impress him. Sting had enjoyed her explosive and gravitational tricks, even though neither of the mages had any clue that the dark power in the magic was really leading back to Shelly. If she had not put that Darkness Magic into Lucy's book, yesterday would not have been so painful for the other competitors that had been in the first event.

"There's Sting, guys! He's a smug jerk, and I'm gonna make him pay for letting his stupid girlfriend berate me the way she did in front of an entire audience yesterday! When I burn that guy to a crisp, let's hear what Lucy will say about that! I don't care about what she's going to think, especially since I'll be going after her next! She won't stop me from winning another fight, and I'll win against Sting! We may not have done as well as we had hoped on the first day, but things will turn around right now!" Natsu shouted with an extremely angry look on his face, before jumping from the booth where Team Fairy Tail A was located.

Since this event had combat on a pillar, having the idea that it would be quite wide for everyone to move around, Lisanna had decided to volunteer for Team Fairy Tail B. She was going to avenge the losses of Cana and Mira, especially by taking down Aqua Kyogre for being so sneaky while she felt something was off in that first event for her friends in Fairy Tail to be the only ones who messed up their turns for appealing, and the white-haired mage planned to take down those punks for not playing by the rules like everyone else.

Yuka Suzuki volunteered for Team Lamia Scale since his Wave Magic might be useful, and Eve decided to participate once again since he could use snow to create a slight advantage for himself. Shelly saw no interest in volunteering for Aqua Kyogre right now, so she simply let a girl named Kanata handle this event. Kanata had long red hair while she had green eyes as well, and she wore the blue and white striped shirt with the black pants to match as well. She was one of the grunts in Aqua Kyogre, a powerful mage with some comical abilities, and let's just say that Shelly hoped for Kanata to play dirty.

Arania Webb had volunteered to be in this event for Team Mermaid Heel, and Nobarly from Team Quatro Cerberus had decided to participate as well. Now that all the selections were completed, with all the players now being out on the battlefield, the event would soon begin. To satisfy the spectators and teams, Lacrima Vision screens appeared in the air to show them what was happening in full view. This also made it easy for the judges to replay some parts of the event in slow motion to see who fell off the pillar of earth first between two people for certain rankings, should there appear to be ties. This would also allow them to see if anyone was trying to cheat while they were high above the Domus Flau, and grabbing on to the pillar while falling also counted as a means of getting disqualified from the event.

When everyone had stepped forward for the event, Mato commanded the playing field to appear and everyone seemed slightly startled when they heard rumbling sounds coming from underneath them. In an instant, the pillar rose up from the ground and everyone stood on its circular peak. As each person saw clouds not far above him or her, they immediately gulped and looked worried for each other from seeing the long way down to the sandy battlefield of the Domus Flau. Would anyone win, let alone be lucky enough to survive if they lost?

* * *

><p>As the gong was struck to signal for the event to begin, Natsu immediately glared at Sting and proceeded to attack him with Fire Dragon's Roar. However, his attack was deflected by a shield of water that Kanata had unleashed from her mouth to intercept his move. Natsu's hot flames of rage simply made Kanata's water boil to quite a heated temperature, and she aimed her right hand towards Nobarly to send the scalding hot water in his direction. He looked utterly shocked while being hit with the treacherous attack, and the male from Quatro Cerberus fell off the pillar. He had managed to hold on to it, though, before he quickly made his way down with zero points for his team.<p>

Sting used his White Dragon's Roar to knock off Arania from Team Mermaid Heel, and the green-haired woman screamed in fear while falling off of the pillar. However, she shot down a lot of webs on to the ground, since they all grew with distance, and she landed on a soft cocoon of her webbing. Arania gained only one point for Team Mermaid Heel, and she got seventh place in the event. With only six competitors left on the pillar of earth now, could things get any more exciting or interesting than this? Who would be the last one to fall, the person to stand tall while being able outlast them all?

While Natsu couldn't get close to Kanata because of her ability to make even the littlest bubbles reshape into large shields of water with tense amounts of density, Yuka Suzuki from Team Lamia Scale had managed to hit Eve Tearm from Team Blue Pegasus with a Wave Seal to make his magic become useless. He smirked a bit while pushing Eve off of the pillar, only to quickly receive his karma from Sting using White Dragon's Roar to send him falling. Team Blue Pegasus earned two more points while Team Lamia Scale had earned three, but who would emerge victorious?

With only half of the competitors remaining, and also upon seeing that Natsu was in trouble, Lisanna quickly went into her Animal Soul: Tigress Take-Over to try and use her high speed with powerful slashes from her claws to take down Kanata. She ran towards the red-haired woman at high speeds, looking fierce as she was determined to send her falling down in defeat with one slash, but Kanata simply spat on Lisanna's left arm. While this seemed like a gross and weird move, Kanata smirked evilly as her saliva quickly grew into a large bubble that surrounded the white-haired mage. She simply pushed it off the pillar, sending Lisanna out of the event with four points, and the spit bubble popped when it hit the ground. At least one little bit of spit was better than being puked on, right?

Now seeing that Sting and Natsu were fighting each other, trading blows like two strong rivals, Kanata felt that she did not really need to be in this event any longer. She looked down at Shelly for approval while making her final move, seeing that the tanned leader smiled calmly about what Kanata was going to do, and the red-haired girl simply spat down at the ground on the pillar while watching it make a slowly expanding puddle of water. With her job now done, Kanata deliberately jumped off the pillar while spitting down at the ground to create a cushion made out of warm water. The water had grown quickly, since she could alter its properties like Shelly could, and seeing Kanata relax on it like it was a waterbed looked pretty interesting. She gained six points for her team, and only two competitors were left standing.

Natsu looked shocked to see his blond rival jump up into the air, and Sting unleashed a new move known as White Dragon's Little Bombs. It was inspired by one of Lucy's attacks, most likely the Fiery Embers spell from her Fire Magic, and it made Sting shoot out seven small spheres of light from his mouth. They all landed near Natsu, some even rolling an inch to get under him, and this spell made many harmless blasts of white light transpire. Natsu was blinded, unable to see a thing, and he couldn't even tell where Sting's Holy Ray attack came from when he hit him with it.

The fire dragon slayer almost fell off the pillar as the light faded away, but he managed to stay on it while looking infuriated at Sting. The white dragon slayer came back down on to the pillar, and he gave Natsu a serious glare like this fight was going to be his last. After all, Sting had heard it from Lucy about how much Natsu had insulted her. He had even told the whole guild to keep his affair with Lisanna from Lucy, making her be led on like a fool, and messing with somebody else's emotions was one of the sickest things that anyone could ever do. Sting would definitely voice his opinion, though.

Natsu shouted while looking fierce, as he ran towards Sting with flames engulfing his fists, "Don't try to pull any sneaky moves with me, you bastard!"

Sting replied with a stern look on his face, as he made balls of white light engulf his fists while dodging all of Natsu's attacks, before delivering a powerful uppercut to his opponent's chin to send him up into the air, "You obviously don't know how to treat people, Salamander! You can't say that I'm a sneaky rat when you pretty much played with Lucy's emotions while you cheated on her with Lisanna! You even made most of the Fairy Tail guild ignore her, making those guys turn against her to save your rep, and it's all because you only cared about your own happiness!"

"How the hell do you know about that, you damn moron?!" Natsu asked whilst looking both angry and shocked at the fact that Sting knew about something that hadn't even been spread far from Fairy Tail or Magnolia Town.

"Lucy told me all about it when we were in the hot spring underneath the Oceanic Museum, you idiot. She told me how she wanted revenge because of how you lied and used her, Natsu, and you made thirteen months of her life go down the drain. You played Lucy like a sap in your game while you only thought about being with that white-haired girl, and you also bullied Lucy because you thought that she was so weak! Well, she's not!" Sting explained coldly, keeping his stern facial expression while activating White Drive and preparing to use a new move.

"You honestly act like I should give a crap about someone who couldn't give me what I want, not being as exciting and sweet as Lisanna can be, and this doesn't even have anything to really do with you! Lucy can continue being the useless loser that she is, and you can get the hell off of this pillar! After you get second place, get a consolation prize from your crappy girlfriend! After all, anybody in second place deserves to be a girl who is second-rate!" Natsu exclaimed, as he grew even angrier and attempted to blast Sting away with his Fire Dragon's Sword Horn.

As Natsu came towards Sting, the blond mage knew that no one would get away with talking bad about Lucy. Narrowing his blue eyes, Sting made all of the light swirl around his left fist. When Natsu got close enough, Sting hit him with that fist and something incredible began to transpire. The white light swirling around Sting's fist turned a large white vortex of swirling light, and it hit Natsu head-on while forcing him out of the flames that engulfed his body. He also took damage from this attack, a large white blast of light occurring on the pillar that was now breaking apart, and Natsu had fallen off the pillar while it was still intact.

A few drips from Kanata's large puddle had been falling down to the ground, some of them even landing on Natsu's face while attaching themselves to it, and Kanata had secretly commanded her drops of water to stretch all the way to the booth where Team Fairy Tail A was standing. Her drips obeyed her, stretching outward with a long reach while Kanata made them grow, and the fire dragon slayer was sent all the way back to his team because the water had also grew long enough to be made into a slingshot that sent him all the way back to his friends. Natsu earned eight points for Team Fairy Tail A, and Sting had managed to get ten points for Team Sabertooth. The pillar crumbled to the ground, magic being used to levitate and heal any contestants who were falling or had been hurt from that high fall, prompting Chapati and his fellow judges to stop the event right there.

The rubble of the pillar vanished into a large puff of white smoke, and the participants for the event went back to their respective booths where their teammates were waiting for them. People had seen and heard Natsu's conversation from the Lacrima Vision screens, and many male fans of Lucy booed at him while also shouting swear words. Lisanna was a bit happy to know that Natsu had still compared her to Lucy, showing that he truly had cared for the blue-eyed girl, but let's just say that Lisanna did not know about the plot twist that her relationship would take today.

"Sting, that was really amazing! You were awesome out there, and I love how you smile onscreen! You're the best battler in the entire world, Sting! You stood up for me against that jerk, and I'm so lucky to have you as a boyfriend! I really love you, and we are definitely a great couple!" Lucy told him with a happy smile on her face, after Sting jumped back up into Sabertooth's booth and did some victory poses for her.

"I did it all for you, my blonde-haired beauty. After all, I refuse to let anyone speak ill about my girlfriend and get away with a big win. Now that Natsu's riled up with the fact that you and I both managed to kick his butt, I wonder if he'll invade our inn and challenge Sabertooth like he did last year. If we does, then we can just throw him out after we beat him down." Sting replied while sharing a hug of victory with his girlfriend, and putting a dreamy look on her face when she blushed pink like cotton candy and seemed like she could swim in his eyes that were blue like the ocean.

Now that the event was over, Lucy had to wonder if she would have to fight today. The new spells of Darkness Magic hadn't been tested out by her, and she didn't know why those spells made her lose consciousness. She also did not want to reveal her other types of magic before the final day or before the fated day when she faced Natsu, so Lucy had only her Darkness Magic and Celestial Spirit Keys to rely on today. Could she win with just those two types of items at her disposal, or would she lose like back in the Naval Battle when Minerva stole her keys?

* * *

><p><strong>10 more minutes later…<strong>

"All right, everyone! It's time to start the battle portion of the second day, and I have a feeling that these battles will be thrilling to watch!" Chapati exclaimed with an excited facial expression, as the overwhelming thrill made him stand on his chair with the microphone in his hands.

The first battle was between Cana Alberona from Team Fairy Tail B and Jenny Realight from Team Blue Pegasus, and Jenny smiled confidently while she used her Transformation Magic to wear a skimpy yellow bikini that made many males in the stadium cheer loudly for her. Cana used these few seconds to put the cards of "Heaven" and "Wind" on top of each other for the Wind Edge spell to be used, and it created a massive wave of wind that struck Jenny from the heavens above. She was easily knocked out by the attack, giving ten points to Cana's team while Jenny's team still had only seven points.

The second battle pitted Kagura Mikazuchi from Team Mermaid Heel against Rocker from Team Quatro Cerberus. When this match had begun, Rocker had used his Drill 'n Rock Magic to make drills of wind form around his legs for high speed. He charged towards Kagura quickly, but she dodged his attack with slight movements before slashing at him with her sword still sheathed. The air wave was powerful enough to send Rocker crashing into a wall, and Kagura won the match. She gained 10 points for Team Mermaid Heel, and those points were desperately needed.

* * *

><p>Chapati announced while looking extremely thrilled for this next battle, as he had the small white piece of paper in his hand with the list of matches on it, "This next battle is a total thrill, everybody! It might get intense, especially since it's between two talented guilds! Lucy Heartfilia from Team Sabertooth versus Yuka Suzuki from Team Lamia Scale! This should be interesting!"<p>

When her name was announced, Lucy immediately gulped while looking a bit nervous at the match up. Was she ready to take on the guy who could seal away an opponent's magic like how he had once done to Nobarly from Team Quatro Cerberus in last year's Grand Magic Games? On top of that, his abilities with Wave Magic could be really dangerous if they were also used offensively. Either way, the blonde mage would be in a pretty tight situation here. However, forfeiting before the match had even started would not be a good option.

Besides, Lucy was going to show Sting that all of their training had not gone to waste. She was going to impress him with her new moves and her golden keys while also letting her ex-boyfriend Natsu see that she was not as weak as he thought she was. Lucy smiled at Sting for a moment, confidence filling up her cocoa brown eyes, and she jumped down from the booth where Team Sabertooth was located to be on the sandy battlefield. Even Erza and Gray were rooting for her to not lose, giving her more encouragement.

As a gong was struck to signify the beginning of the third match, Lucy pulled out Scorpio's Celestial Spirit Key to start things off. She narrowed her brown eyes while summoning him on to the field, noting that she could use the sand like how she had done last year in her match against Flare Corona from Raven Tail, and Lucy also pulled out Virgo's key from the brown pouch that was located in the left pocket of her purple miniskirt. She also planned to use Virgo's Chain Magic to bind Yuka's hands to prevent him from creating his waves, too.

Scorpio got down on all four limbs like a real scorpion would, and then he smirked a bit while pointing his scorpion-like stinger at Yuka. A large amount of sand was subsequently fired from it in the form of a powerful sand vortex, which moved towards the Lamia Scale mage in a straight line and almost struck him with great blunt power. However, he grinned arrogantly while simply having his Wave Shield completely block the attack. Yuka then proceeded to use his Wave Seal move on Scorpio, the Static version of it, and the Celestial Spirit's magic was sealed away for the duration of the battle.

This frustrated Lucy, having messed up the first part of her plan to win the match, but she also knew that Virgo was still out on the field. If she could just get Yuka's hands chained up, then everything would be fine. She nicely ordered Virgo to shoot out some iron chains from her hands, complete with grappling hooks at the end, and Lucy knew that this match would be over if she could tie up Yuka. However, the blue-haired man simply used his Wave Rush attack to cancel out Virgo's Chain Magic while also hitting her with an attack that created a powerful explosion.

Virgo was nearly unconscious from taking the full brunt of that Wave Rush, and Lucy returned the pink-haired spirit back to her world. This was definitely a tough fight, especially against someone who could seal away magic and also attack with it at the same time. Lucy didn't want to have to rely on the Darkness Magic, knowing how it could be pretty scary, and Yuka would probably just seal away her other types of magic. She didn't know what to do, and Lucy couldn't look up fast enough from her thoughts to see that Yuka hit her with a Wave Rush attack!

It slammed her against the wall, making her cough up some blood from the powerful force of the attack, and Lucy also looked shocked at her opponent's quick skills. He hastily used Wave Shield to trap her inside of an energy wave, draining her magical power, and this move also prevented Lucy from using any magic while being inside of the wave. She could feel her powers being nullified, leaving her completely defenseless, and Lucy began to have her doubts about being able to win this match. With no magical power, what could she do?

"Don't give up, Lucy! I know that you can beat this guy! I know how scared you are about using that Darkness Magic, knowing how it had been given to you by someone as bad as Shelly, but you can't just lose! The Darkness Magic may have a different feel to it, and you're still testing it out, but so what? You weren't scared to use new magic against Shelly or any other person that we faced on jobs, and you always succeeded because you believed that you could win! That book reacts to the feelings in your heart more than anything else, you know! Believe in yourself, Lucy, because I believe in you! If you trust your spells, then they'll come to trust you!" Sting shouted to her with a stern look on his face, as his hands gripped the railing tightly while he did not want to see her be defeated.

Lucy had her doubts about that, but then she looked up at Sting and locked her frustrated cocoa brown eyes with his stern blue eyes for a moment. Everyone in the stadium was silent while this was going on, and Lisanna even looked a little amazed when she noticed them communicating just through eye contact. Their chemistry had grown to that level, but what would it bring? After a few moments, Lucy smiled and assurance replaced the frustrated look in her eyes. A smirk of confidence appeared on her face, causing Sting to have a poised facial expression as he gave her a thumbs-up and smiled back at her. He watched his girlfriend turn back towards Yuka, and Lucy had definitely come up with something brilliant while using the non-spell ability of gravity to dispel the Wave Seal.

"There's no chance of you winning this match, and nothing can help you now!" Yuka told his opponent in a cocky manner while grinning at his supposed victory over a barely standing Lucy.

Everyone wondered if it was over for the brown-eyed girl, since she was just having her two hands stretched out in front of her with her palms facing up towards the sun, but Lucy was actually absorbing gravity into her hands for some magical power to recharge her body. She was also inhaling some air, allowing the non-spell ability of Wind Magic to come into play as well to fully replenish her supply of magical power, and that certainly surprised Wendy and Chelia. A purple aura engulfed Lucy's body while she concentrated her emotions into the Darkness Magic, embracing its power instead of fearing it this time, and the blonde mage allowed the Darkness Magic to take over.

The purple aura now entered Lucy's mouth, allowing her to consume all of it, and she currently had lost consciousness while her eyes that were brown like sweet chocolate had turned purple like amethyst jewels. She had the blonde hair obscuring her eyes while she began to giggle in a very dark manner. The evil grin on her face let Yuka know that this match was finally getting started for real, and she had an alternative way of getting past the Wave Magic. If she couldn't attack from up close or hit him, why not think outside the box?

She took a deep breath while calming down a bit, and then she began to sing in a ghostly tune that surprised everyone, "The ruin in which is no sun, it leaves the spirit of death that was forgotten. The cold spirit that haunts you, it is nothing more than my love of the darkness. Close your eyes and rest now, since the grave's power will make sure you no longer wake up in this world. The ghosts of the tower dance around your corpse." (Basically, the melody of the song sounded similar to Lavender Town's music in the Red, Blue, and Yellow versions.)

Yuka did not understand what was going on at first, until Lucy slowly lifted the blonde hair over her left eye to show him that it was amethyst purple instead of being cocoa brown. She began to point her index fingers outward, waving them from left to right like metronomes, and this was obviously meant to show that something really eerie was about to happen. It had caused a violet aura to surround Yuka's body, and he gasped in shock while finding himself unable to move or look away from the movements of Lucy's fingers.

He suddenly felt his body begin to collapse like it had lost all of its energy in that mere moment, and Yuka fell to the ground while feeling his eyelids begin to get heavy like he was exhausted. Lucy walked over to him with a sinister look in her amethyst purple eyes, and this great power that she was allowed her to use any spell from her arsenal of Darkness Magic. She chose to use Nightmare Eater, perfect for a sleeping opponent, and Lucy simply placed her left hand on Yuka's forehead. She began to absorb not only the violet aura, but his thoughts as well. She replaced them all with nightmares while absorbing his magical power, and he began to toss and turn in his sleep like something was torturing him.

Lucy smirked at the power of her move, and she whispered faintly while looking at Yuka as she walked away from him before using the fifth spell to have the purple slingshot in her hands, "I call upon thee, the fifth spell, Gravitational Slingshot."

In an instant, a purple slingshot appeared in Lucy's hands while gravity formed a purple ball in the slingshot as well. Lucy threw it high up into the air, watching it gain power as it soared up into the air, and Yuka had been pulled upward into the air while he was still asleep. He was being forced to rise towards the sky, being the victim of a powerful gravity ball that came down upon him, and he woke up to take the full damage of the attack while screaming like he was actually in a nightmare. All of the power had been focused into a single point as well, meaning that it really had to hurt.

Lucy had so much power in her attacks, controlling the flow of energy in such a perfect way, and the smoke cleared up quickly to reveal that Yuka had fallen to the ground while he was unconscious with his eyes open as he seemed badly wounded as well. He could only shake in fear from experiencing such dark power, the same strength that was shared by Shelly and Lucy, and the fight was now over. The Darkness Magic was fading away while Lucy was laughing for a few seconds, and she reverted back to her old self when it had gone back into the purple spell book.

The blonde mage's eyes reverted back to being cocoa brown, and she gasped in pure amazement while looking down at her wounded opponent. Lucy could not believe that she had done it again, putting her hands over her mouth, and she also felt replenished as if she had used the Nightmare Eater spell. Lucy looked up at the audience to see everyone looking shocked at what she had done to the mage from Team Lamia Scale, and Lucy felt bad about it. However, she then heard a pair of hands clapping for her to show her that she won the match.

She turned around to see Sting applauding for her with a happy smile on his face, so incredibly proud of her, and that prompted Lector to applaud for her as well. The rest of her teammates followed suit, being mimicked by the rest of the audience in the Domus Flau, and even her friends from Fairy Tail were applauding for her. Erza was cheering Lucy's name loudly, having never doubted her for even a moment, and Gray also cheered about the fact that Lucy was powerful enough to use such mysterious moves. Even Shelly quietly clapped her hands, but she still didn't find the match to be that exciting.

"I haven't seen anything like that, since… I don't know! That was a great comeback from Lucy Heartfilia, and she could just become the dark horse in this tournament! That singing was so beautiful, yet haunting, but it doesn't change the fact that Sabertooth has earned ten more points to add to their score! Lucy Heartfilia is the winner! Her two dark days have ironically produced the light of victory for her guild, which is amazing!" Chapati exclaimed loudly while his awestruck look turned into an expression that looked like he saw the most exciting thing in his life, which he probably did.

"She certainly has a great bond with her Darkness Magic, to make spells like that without having to wait a while for sleeping moves to take effect." Yajima commented calmly while smiling.

"That was just too cool, and Lucy is really cool! That was cool enough to top Erza Scarlet's victory in the Pandemonium event last year, and that's reaching a new level of cool!" Jason shouted while looking just as excited as Chapati.

Lucy jumped back up into Sabertooth's booth while Toby got Yuka off the field, and the blonde mage smiled happily while being congratulated by her teammates. Yukino happily hugged her friend for avenging her loss last year, even though the match wasn't against Kagura from Team Mermaid Heel, and Lucy hugged back while being proud to have won such a tough battle. She even ran into Sting's arms to thank him for his words of advice during the battle, since he was the main reason why she tried so hard, and Lucy smiled up at him while blushing a light shade of pink.

"Lucy, that was off the charts in my definition of awesome! Sting-kun never doubted you for a second!" Lector told her with a smile on his face, as he then saw Sting passionately kiss Lucy on the lips to show how he felt about seeing such a thrilling match.

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><p>After the cheers had ceased for Lucy, everyone was shocked to know that the only two teams left were Team Fairy Tail A and Team Aqua Kyogre. Not only was one a major light guild while the other was supposed to be a dark guild, but Natsu's eyes widened in pure shock from what he could see in the other team's booth. Marina had now stood beside Shelly, appearing in a puddle of water while she had secretly finished putting a camera in the pink-haired male's suite at the Fairy Tail inn, and she wore a beautiful white dress with some high heels that were green like her eyes.<p>

Natsu could only looked surprised from seeing her with the people from Aqua Kyogre, wondering what she was doing there, and he had even ignored Erza's shocked reaction to seeing that the former barmaid had switched guilds. She had never even really been a part of their guild in the first place, even though Mirajane was beyond shocked to see that Marina was with the team that played dirty, and Lisanna gasped a bit while looking over at Natsu. He kept looking surprised while his eyes were focused on Marina, blushing as he could see her unzip the white dress to let more of her large breasts be seen, and Lisanna could see her smirking seductively at him.

Much to the surprise of Lucy and her former friends in Fairy Tail, the match up was Natsu versus Marina. He quickly shook off his shock while accidentally leaning too far over the edge, falling down on to the sandy battlefield, and Natsu continued to blush a light shade of pink while Marina jumped down to face him. He quickly stood up while knowing that this was a bad pairing, especially with his girlfriend watching this battle, and could Natsu really bring himself to fight his mistress? Also, how could he control his emotions right now? If he made any dirty moves, Lisanna could probably catch on to his affair. Really, who has an affair within an affair?

The fire dragon slayer could hear the gong being struck for the match to begin, having a difficult time between battling the woman he loved while the woman who truly loved him was watching, and the woman who was just playing him for a fool had started things off by making a sphere of water surround her body to make herself be wet. She sighed happily while taking off her white dress that was now soaking wet, and Marina only wore her light blue bra with light blue lacy panties to match. She walked towards Natsu in a sultry manner, seeing him blush more, and let's just say that a part of him was now growing again.

She let her hips move in a sultry manner while letting her underwear show off the beautiful curves of her butt, and Marina's blackberry perfume had drawn Natsu towards her. He had wanted to try and strike her to not arouse suspicion from Lisanna, but Marina grabbed his left fist while pushing her breasts against his chest. There was no doubt about it, really. She didn't have to fight him with powerful spells or spew words of arrogance or dislike towards him, but all she had to do was use a little bit of love and seduction to let her charms work their magic on him.

Marina had delivered a few punches and kicks to his body, sending Natsu crashing into a wall while he groaned in pain, and the teal-haired girl saw him stand up while he now looked mad at how she had supposedly rejected him. He lunged at her while being engulfed in the flames of his Fire Dragon's Sword Horn spell, but Marina simply smirked evilly while she turned away from him. She quickly bent over to let him see that he was about collide with her butt, forcing him to stop his move, but Natsu was too late. His nose landed directly between the cheeks of her rear, letting him smell that nice hole of hers, and Natsu's hands could not resist playfully patting her booty.

She feinted a pink blush on her face, before Natsu slummed down to the ground, and she squatted down while being at his side. He could only blush more from seeing her get on top of him, while even Lucy and Sting were shocked by seeing Natsu act this way, and Marina acted like they were in bed together. She felt his warm hands wrap around her waist in an affectionate manner, knowing that he was about to lose control of himself in from of everyone watching a televised match, and their lips were growing closer together.

"Marina... You look so great. You're so sexy, and fighting you would be wrong. Just end me now, and let your lips be victorious over mine." Natsu told her in a loving manner, blushing more while his flames had made her wet skin feel so warm and smooth.

She replied in a sweet manner, smiling nicely while she picked him up to hold him in her arms, "You'll get that lovely kiss from me, Natsu, and I'm so glad that you trust me. Succumb to me, you fire dragon slayer, and just let me show you sexy I can be. You and Lisanna are having your anniversary soon, so I know you'll help me out. You may even give me a warm present, too. Anyway, Natsu, let's not make the thirty minutes lead to this being a draw. Since you can't fight me, it makes me the winner. As compensation, though, let me give you a little treat."

The green-eyed girl placed Natsu down on the ground while her stomach rumbled from eating a few chili dogs on her way to the Domus Flau, and she proceeded to sit on his face while releasing a few large trumpets of gas. She blushed pink while letting it all out, Natsu eliciting a sigh of pleasure as he was taking in the scent from Marina's rear hole, and she rolled off of the fire dragon slayer while knowing that her blackberry perfume had strengthened his attraction to her. She picked him up in her arms again, looking like she would give him a soft kiss on the lips as a consolation prize, but Lisanna jumped down from Fairy Tail B's booth to snatch Natsu away while she refused to let this seductive advantage of Marina's take Natsu down the path of cheating again.

Since Lisanna had come on to the field to take her boyfriend away, Marina had gained the ten points by default. She was about to gain the points before she had farted on Natsu, since Shelly had taught her how to let it all out like how she did it to Cana, but the teal-haired girl still won the match for Aqua Kyogre. With that little stunt, as she picked up her white dress, she was sure that Natsu's relationship with Lisanna would pretty much implode because of his actions during the fight, and the camera in his suite would definitely show an interesting video on their seven-month anniversary. Marina was a great villain, was she not?

As she jumped back up into the booth, Marina could hear Lisanna trying to snap Natsu out of the trance that he was in. She had even shook him wildly, as well as kissing his lips, but making Mira playfully whack Natsu on the head had made him be slightly brought back to his senses. He had rubbed his head like the match had been a dream, until he wondered why he smelled like someone ate chili dogs. Natsu could hear and see Lisanna scolding him in reality while she demanded an explanation, but he was now having a fantasy about having a hot shower with Marina. Erza and Gray would definitely beat him up for not even putting up a fight, am I right?

While Lucy and the rest of Team Sabertooth were now leaving the arena, Shelly knew that she had to get closer to Lucy for the chance to take that book. Of course, the blonde mage did not exactly have the same level of badness that Shelly had. Lucy was not like the top female in Aqua Kyogre, only having similar levels of power with her, and Shelly knew that Lucy had so much potential to be great. Of course, for the blonde mage to accept any kind of offering from the woman who tried to kiss Sting, Shelly just had to talk with a certain young girl that she and Lucy both trusted.

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 19? Did you like it? The Grand Magic Games are definitely picking up steam, and the StiCy is improving! Sorry for not updating in so long, but I was busy. I also ran into a page with the Moneypak virus today, and its effects are said to not be pretty. I used a System Restore to change the recovery point before the virus could affect my laptop, so does that mean it's gone for good? If not, please tell me what else to do. Anyway, will day three have a few surprises? What does Shelly tell Wendy? Will Sting have a battle? What happens when Lisanna is near a certain door at Fairy Tail's inn? Standby for the update!<strong>


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 20: Many Things To Think About<strong>

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><p>Lucy and the other members of Team Sabertooth had decided to get up early for the chance to do some sightseeing before the tournament would once again occur, and it never hurt anybody to just have a bit of fun before going into something that would seem serious. Today was the third day of the Grand Magic Games, the same day that Fairy Tail had their best performances in the tournament last year, and Lucy was feeling good about the possibility of eventually facing off against someone from the guild of her past.<p>

After all, this day and the fourth day were the only two days left before the final battles would begin. There was a bit of a chance that Fairy Tail and Sabertooth would cross paths again like how they had done in the tag-team battle, thrilling the entire viewing world, and Lucy was going to win that fight. She had been feeling really good, ever since yesterday when she defeated Yuka Suzuki from Team Lamia Scale in their battle, but Lucy still did not know how she had managed to do it without even reciting a spell.

She was still unaware of the fact that Shelly's team was keeping a close eye on her, wanting to see how the the spells from the purple book had been affecting the blonde mage, and Lucy was actually beginning to like her Darkness Magic. She liked it a little bit, since it hadn't blown the stadium sky high with its powerful spells, and Lucy had taken Sting's advice for this type of magic. She had to embrace the fearlessness of it, not be frightened by this new power, and Lucy's fierceness was also the reason for the darkness abilities being so strong. The fiercer that the blonde mage acted, the more powerful the purple spells became.

Yesterday had been a good day for the guild of Sabertooth, since the team had earned 20 points on the second day of the Grand Magic Games, and there were no events like Chariot or bets that involved people risking their lives. Lucy was really glad to know that her team was doing so well against Fairy Tail, especially when Sting had beaten down Natsu for talking trash about her in a public stadium, and she still found herself to be laughing at how her ex had been so easily defeated by Marina from Aqua Kyogre. It was like the fire dragon slayer had fallen in love with his teal-haired opponent, and Lucy was glad to see that such a big jerk had a huge downfall.

Lucy and Sting were in the art gallery of the main museum located in Crocus, looking at many of the beautiful paintings that were on the walls, and each painting was situated perfectly in a golden frame. There were paintings of the Fairy Tail guild, a painting of Galuna Island, and there were even portraits of mages like Zeref. He surely wouldn't be posing for a picture, but he seemed to be sleeping in one painting. Whoever managed to paint that sight without being killed was certainly lucky, were they not? They also could've gotten killed if the colors were wrong, too, so this person was lucky to be precise and cautious while making a work of art featuring Zeref.

Lucy's outfit today consisted of a sky blue T-shirt with a viridian green miniskirt to match, and her flat shoes were red. She wore her blonde hair in a side ponytail on the left side of her head, and Lucy looked fashionable as always. She smiled happily while standing next to Sting, both of them admiring a portrait of two people romantically kissing at a cafe, and Lucy sighed happily while hugging the guy who was certainly her best boyfriend. Lucy felt so happy to be around Sting, especially he cared so much about her.

After seeing him defeat Natsu in the event on the previous day of the Grand Magic Games, Lucy was glad to know that Sting loved her enough to not let a jerk like Natsu get away with talking bad about her. She had really wanted to personally make that jerk pay, though, since the conflict was more intense between the two of them. Lucy still found herself giggling a bit at the fact that Natsu lost to Marina in such a humiliating way, and she could guess that Lisanna was going to give him a long lecture about dealing with seductive opponent. It wasn't his fault that Aqua Kyogre rigged that pairing for the fourth match, but it was still his fault for getting beaten by his mistress.

"Yesterday was so great, Sting. You encouraged me to do my best, and I won the match. We even got to see Natsu get totally seduced by Marina in the battle that they had, and Erza probably isn't too happy about that. You did really good in the event, and that new move of yours was really cool. If you have a battle today, I'll definitely be cheering for you because I have faith in you. I know that you'll win, Sting." Lucy told him in a kind manner, smiling happily with joy twinkling in her beautiful cocoa brown eyes that looked lovelier than chocolate.

The white dragon slayer replied calmly, smirking with his usual high amount of confidence, "Thank you, Lucy. It makes me happy to hear you say that, you know. I'll definitely win for you if I have a battle, and the event probably won't be too hard for you or Rogue to do. Hearing you cheer me on would be the best sound in the world to me, and I agree with you about how Natsu totally got pulled in by the charms of that girl from Aqua Kyogre. It was pretty lewd to see her use those risque moves on him, but seduction is the thing that makes perverts lose."

That last remark about Natsu made Lucy giggle happily, definitely knowing that it was certainly true, and she was really glad to have a guy like Sting as her boyfriend. Not only was he so powerful, confident, smart, and totally hot, but he was also a pretty nice guy who could tell very funny jokes. Lucy always laughed at any puns that he would come up with, such as when they once fought a few enemies in a cave near the town of Nibi, and the fact that those guys were wielding spears made Sting say that they looked like they had a few points to make. (Was that corny, or not?)

Since the Grand Magic Games started in an hour, with a ticking clock interestingly placed above a portrait of a clock, Sting and Lucy both blushed at each other before they smiled and shared a passionate kiss. Their love was certainly great to see, and their chemistry really helped with their teamwork as well. Sting and Lucy were a pretty good duo, even though they never used their abilities in combinations with each other to make a Unison Raid, and they certainly were a cute couple. The blue-eyed male smirked at Lucy, before challenging her to a race to the Domus Flau, and Lucy giggled playfully while chasing after him to make sure that he would at least buy her something to eat on their way to the arena.

While they had ran off to have some fun and enjoy the tournament, Lucy and Sting did not even know that Shelly had ordered one of the grunts from Team Aqua to place a hidden Lacrima Surveillance Crystal in the nearby painting of Fairy Tail. This camera could also have the telescopic long-range vision feature, something that Shelly had now used to spy on the two mages while she watched everything from the hot spring underneath the museum. She had come here to start her day with a hot bath, obviously pressing the switch cleverly hidden in Fairy Tail's insignia on the painting, and no one had even seen her take this secret passage to a warm paradise.

Shelly had simply been relaxing in the water while looking at another Lacrima Surveillance Crystal, smirking evilly while she held it in her hands, and the blue-eyed woman kept her focus on Lucy. Even though the blonde girl could be a pain in the butt when it came to keeping Shelly from ever kissing Sting again, the black-haired woman knew that Aqua Kyogre needed the power of that spell book for them to achieve their goal. She knew that stealing it from Lucy would not work, since she was the only one who could read the book, so getting her to help Sabertooth join forces with Aqua Kyogre would be a good thing.

There was also the matter of Fairy Tail possibly getting in the way, but Shelly had left them in the hands of Marina. She knew that the teal-haired girl could be very manipulative, especially when it came to making someone change sides, and Natsu had definitely turned against Lisanna. Marina had gotten inside of his mind and heart, filling him with love that a mistress could give to a man that she wanted to be with, and her seduction of the fire dragon slayer had definitely dented his relationship with the other members in Fairy Tail. After all, how could he be loyal to them if he was cheating on Lisanna and sleeping with the enemy?

When Shelly had been using the blue washcloth to wash a very private frontal area with her right hand, she began to blush a light shade of pink while feeling the warmth from the water. It seemed to be kissing her skin with its heat, even splashing her back with hot water and soap to make it be clean, and Shelly also opened her panties with her left hand. The touch felt so gentle, so very comforting in a way that got her sexy body to shiver while she wore a light brown bra with light brown panties, and Shelly had also been liked by many men because of her muscles. She was sexy, strong, seductive, smart, gassy, and let's just say that she had definitely been what Minerva wasn't.

She had been bathing in a hot spring bubble bath, relaxing in the black shampoo that had a similar smell to blackberry perfume, and this was the day for Shelly to get another one of her ideas to come to fruition. She was going to make Lucy become stronger, help her improve to another high point that would put her in the ranks of Aqua Kyogre, and the black-haired woman knew that Lucy would never accept anything from her. They had openly been rivals, ironically sometimes shopping together at the same fashion stores or perfume stores in Crocus, so Shelly knew that she had to entrust her gift to Lucy with someone who was trusted by both girls.

After all, wouldn't Lucy feel happy to get a gift that was from a friend? It would be better than receiving a package that came from the hands of an enemy, possibly making Lucy feel very uncomfortable in that scenario, so Shelly sighed happily while swimming down into the depths of the hot spring to reach a secret passage that would help Shelly reach the Domus Flau in time for the Grand Magic Games. Even though it would be impossible to go over to Sabertooth's booth without tension happening, who said that things could not be calm if the situation was reversed to strengthen a friendship?

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, at the Domus Flau...<strong>

Natsu had looked pretty beaten up for losing his match against Marina yesterday, and Erza had obviously given him a left black eye. She wasn't the type of person who liked to lose, and she certainly did not want to lose the Grand Magic Games against any of the other competing guilds. Team Fairy Tail A was currently in fourth place with 18 points, the worst of the best while Team Fairy Tail B was in fifth place with 15 points to be the best of the worst. It was all because of Team Aqua sabotaging Fairy Tail on the first days, especially when Marina used love to make Natsu lose, but Erza knew the seduction on the second day was not against the rules. She had still not suspected Shelly's team of any foul play, since they didn't openly cheat.

However, the scarlet-haired mage also had no clue that Natsu was actually having an affair with Marina. Erza had walked by Natsu's suite last night to hear the bed creaking a bit, but she did not know that Marina was letting Natsu put his erect prize inside her while she laid down on the bed. She had told Natsu that she was allied to Aqua Kyogre now, only because they had gotten many more jobs that came with higher amounts of jewels in the rewards, and the fire dragon slayer simply believed her lie while he went inside of her. Natsu had making Marina feel good, but the smell of her climax was the same as the blackberry perfume that made him mesmerized.

He had enjoyed being nude with her last night, kissing her lips while their bodies were pressed together, and Natsu wasn't even thinking of Lisanna while he was filling up Marina with his warm seed that spilled into her for a few minutes. Shelly had made the teal-haired girl take a pill before this whole plot unfolded, keeping Marina from getting pregnant, and that would just cause her cover to be blown. She was smart to have taken that pill, since Natsu would get to fill her with his warmth, and there would be no bad side effects for her. The only bad fate for Natsu, however, was that Lisanna was starting to get suspicious of what he had been doing at night.

The fire dragon slayer was certainly getting his bad karma for what he done, and he looked over at Team Fairy Tail B's booth to see that Lisanna sternly glared at him while using her Take-Over ability only on her hands to show him her sharp Tigress claws that were ready to maul the pink-haired male when that time came around. Lisanna did not hate Natsu now, but she was simply giving him a warning for him to refer her threat back to what happened yesterday. She was simply telling him that he would get mauled, should he ever get frisky and seduced by Marina or any other girl that came his way.

There was no way that Natsu could ever tell the white-haired mage about his affair with Marina, since it would just cause tons of drama in the guild of Fairy Tail, and it would definitely make his rep because worse than it already was. He had cheated on Lucy with Lisanna because he needed some excitement, but now he was putting that affair aside because of his lust for Marina? None of this would have even transpired, had Natsu not gotten whip cream on Marina's shirt by accident. She had definitely let her body work its way into his mind, and her cute voice assisted her in seducing Natsu to the point where he wanted to use her breasts as pillows when they slept together.

"I don't know what made you be off your game yesterday when you had the opportunity to take down Marina in a matter of seconds, Natsu, but you better get your act together today. We're in fourth place, and we can't afford any more mess-ups. If you lose anything else for us, then you can guarantee that I will make your life become miserable in Fairy Tail. It would be perfect for how you treated Lucy, and I also don't like how you were getting into those sexy moves that Marina used. If you and that traitor have some secret alliance going on, you better tell us." Erza sternly told him while narrowing her brown eyes, ready to pound some sense into his head.

The fire dragon slayer replied while looking annoyed, muttering under his breath, "I can't see why you still feel sympathy for that Sabertooth scum, especially when you were cheering her on when she fought Yuka, and don't mention Marina to me. It's bad enough that Lisanna is starting to feel a sense of distrust towards me, wanting to kill me if a girl makes me flustered again, and I only lost to Marina because she's still my friend. You act like I can force myself to hit a pretty close friend, yet I bet that you can't even beat down Lucy."

Erza angrily asked him to say that louder to her, not hearing exactly what he had said, and Natsu looked a bit scared while putting his hands up in a defensive manner. He really had a habit of not thinking before he spoke, often saying the wrong things loudly to make himself look bad, but Natsu was lucky this time. He simply scowled in a frustrated manner while hearing Gajeel and Laxus both snicker at his misfortune, making the fire dragon slayer sigh sadly at the fact that he was now in a lose-lose situation with the suspicions that came from Erza and Lisanna.

At least he was now learning the biggest life lesson, involving the fact that lust should never be cared for over love, and fate would probably make events happen while also making them be out of Natsu's control. That would be the perfect way to teach him about being fair to the woman that he loved, especially when their seven-month anniversary was happening soon, and the fire dragon slayer knew that Marina had been speaking to him about planning the event. While it had initially seemed like a good idea, let's just say that the anniversary night would have something worse than the thought of a jealous Lucy puking on the cake that Natsu would eat with Lisanna.

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><p><strong>10 minutes later...<strong>

Lucy and Sting made it to their team's booth to see that the rest of their team had gotten there before they did, but it did not really matter that much. Everyone wondered the event of the third day would be, hoping that it wouldn't require so much creativity like Appealing Ace or be pretty deadly like Pillar Battle, and some people were actually happy that the events were different than the ones from last year because they did not want to participate in games like Pandemonium or Hidden. After all, those events were pretty tough.

Either way, the game would have some kind of twist to it to most likely prevent anyone from making a straightforward strategy that would help them win easily. That would efface anyone's hopes of saying that the games were mediocre, since they certainly were not. Of course, there were ways around the stern rules of each event. Some people who were smart like Lucy could find the malleability in the rules, and crafty people like Shelly could be sneaky without anybody seeing or sensing a single thing. This event would probably be interesting, anyway.

"Welcome to the third day of the Grand Magic Games, ladies and gentlemen! I can tell that Sabertooth is really letting us all know that they plan to make quite a comeback, but Team Aqua Kyogre and Team Lamia Scale aren't too far behind! They aren't getting lazy about this competition, and Fairy Tail could come from behind to win! Will they ever have the chance to regain first place, and can anyone topple them down? We'll have to see what thrills us all today!" Chapati exclaimed with an excited facial expression, wanting to see some more raging battles like Lucy's battle against Yuka from Team Lamia Scale.

"Let's see who is the best at working in sync with their magic, shall we?" Yajima commented, as a smile found its way on to his face.

The guest judge for the third day was Lahar, the Head Captain of the Custody Enforcement Unit and he was also a member of the Magic Council. He smiled while not saying anything, and only hoping he wouldn't have another situation like when him and Doranbolt found out that Jellal was posing as Mystogan. He also hoped that there wouldn't be cheaters this year, like Team Raven Tail. The Rune Knights also sat in various places to watch the Grand Magic Games, and one of them even failed to recognize Courtney Kagari from the dark guild known as Magma Groudon while he was sitting right next to her in the stands.

While Lucy and Sting were both looking excited about the upcoming event, ready to help Sabertooth win once again while the other members of their team were ready to help them out as well, Yukino looked around curiously to note that Wendy was missing. Happy and Carla stood on the booth ledges with Lector and Frosch, ready to see what the event of day three would be, but where was Wendy? The blue-haired sky dragon slayer had never missed out on an event before, and it was not like her to be late. She had to be somewhere, but where could she be?

Wendy actually had been in the booth where Sabertooth was located, but a small puddle of water had been left behind on the floor where the brown-eyed girl had been standing. She had actually been taken away by some grunts from Aqua Kyogre, since they had to wait for Shelly and her team to be done with their part on the third day of the Grand Magic Games, so all that anyone could really do at this point was just focus on the tournament before making their big moves. Still, what was Shelly going to give Lucy? Would it be a heavenly gift, or would it be a hellish nightmare?

Everyone turned their attention to Chapati when he announced the event for the third day of the Grand Magic Games, and he surprisingly announced that this event would be quite a major change for everyone who competed in last year's tournament. The event was known as "Great Gambler", and it was not a mental challenge or a physical challenge. This was a game of luck, just like how a real gambler would hope to get lucky and win big, prompting everyone to look a bit shocked that something like this would be happening. After all, some of them knew that the roulette of fate could be deadly.

Luck had never been part of the Grand Magic Games in the past years, and some people like Rufus looked a bit shocked at this. He could not memorize or cheat to change things that would occur in a game of chance, and the cards would also probably be face-down as well. Lucy looked a bit disappointed at the fact that she wouldn't be able to use her Celestial Spirits in something like this, and the book also would not prove to be useful here. Sting also looked shocked at this change, but then he became calm while having faith in Lucy. After all, her name was only one letter away from spelling "lucky."

No magic was allowed in this event, leaving it all up to chance, and that made this event pretty hard for everybody. Gajeel volunteered to do this event for Team Fairy Tail A, much to Natsu's annoyance since it would not give him the chance to take on someone from Aqua Kyogre, but the iron dragon slayer grinned confidently while knowing that he always had pretty good luck. Team Fairy Tail B chose Lisanna to represent them because she wanted to do it, and Sting had given Lucy enough encouragement for her to participate in this event for Team Sabertooth. All that she needed was a little luck, you know.

The blonde maiden's participation in an event that did not involve magic was certainly a bit troublesome to Shelly, who stood in the booth where Team Aqua Kyogre was located, and she smiled calmly while jumping down from her team's booth with a clever smirk on her face. She was not going to let luck not be on Lucy's side, and Shelly wanted the confidence of the blonde mage to keep rising for her true strength to be unleashed whenever she used spells from the book. Besides, with their fierce rivalry, how in the world could Lucy pass up the chance to show Shelly how lucky she could be?

Chelia Blendy decided to join in on the game for Team Lamia Scale, and Hibiki Lates volunteered to try and win the event for Team Blue Pegasus. Kagura allowed Milliana to participate in the event for Team Mermaid Heel, and Bacchus was going to try and win this event for Team Quatro Cerberus because he was pretty good at card games that involved gambling. After all of the participants had been chosen for each team, they all walked to the center of the battlefield for Mato to explain the rules to them. With luck in this event, could you say that everyone was now a high-roller?

He commanded the field to open, simply having the mages behind the scenes use magic to create what appeared to be a poker table, and everyone looked surprised by its sudden appearance. The table had only sixteen playing cards on it, making everyone look really curious as to why this game would not be played with a full deck, and Mato told them that the event known as "Great Gambler" required all the participants to pick two random face-down cards from the table. It was a simple game of chance, really, and victory depended on luck.

Nobody knew what cards they were going to get, and Mato also let them know that aces counted as eleven points instead of one. Whoever had the highest number from the total of their pair would receive ten points for their team, and whoever had the lowest number would get zero points for their team. Mato smiled and danced around while telling everyone to simply choose two cards from the table. The competitors were also not allowed to look at each other's cards, but who really would want to see who got lucky?

Lucy looked a bit nervous, being the last one to grab two cards from the table, and she groaned in frustration at her luck when she saw what cards she had gotten. They were a two of clubs and a three of spades, totaling up to five, and that was the lowest score that could be achieved in the game. She looked pretty down about this, thinking that luck had run out for Sabertooth, but she did not know that this event had a sneaky cheater in its midst. Lucy was wishing that the cards could be reshuffled and drawn again, but she wouldn't be saying that when her eyes were closed in frustration.

When the blonde mage had closed her cocoa brown eyes, Shelly had a sly smirk on her face while Marina used a spell known as Spit Swap to make this game of chance have some rigged luck transpiring. Marina simply spit at Lucy's cards from a far distance, smiling calmly as her saliva landed on them, and this spell quickly changed Lucy's cards into flat rectangles of water before they swiftly transformed into cards that were different from the ones that she originally had. Nobody had noticed anything when Marina spat on their cards, mostly since the tampering transpired in the blink of an eye, and the actions of Aqua Kyogre were definitely a game-changer.

Bacchus grinned confidently while playing his cards first, knowing that he had a black king of spades and a red queen of hearts, but then he looked shocked to find that he now had Lucy's two of clubs and her three of spades. This totaled up to five, the lowest score in the game, and Team Quatro Cerberus immediately earned zero points. Bacchus Groh left the field with a somewhat annoyed look on his face, and he muttered about the event not being wild enough to be in his favor. Milliana played the three of hearts and the three of diamonds, earning a score of six, and Team Mermaid Heel had only gained one point. She walked back to her team's booth, and Kagura simply looked annoyed.

Hibiki now had the four of spades and the four of diamonds, totaling his pair up to eight, but that wasn't exactly a pretty high score. He earned two points for Team Blue Pegasus, and looked pretty shocked to know that his calculations were off. Well, nothing could really be calculated exactly in a game of chance. Chelia had the four of clubs and the five of hearts, getting her a score of nine, and that helped her earn three points for Team Lamia Scale. Lyon sighed sadly while thinking that he should have done the event, since he wouldn't have picked the first two cards on the left side of the top row of four like Chelia had done.

Surprisingly, Gajeel had drawn the ace of spades. However, he had only gotten a score of thirteen because he had also drawn the two of hearts. Since none of the other three competitors looked at him like their pair values were lower than his, Gajeel earned four points for Team Fairy Tail A. This made Natsu want to laugh at him, but it would be stupid to do that. After all, Gajeel could easily make a comeback that let Natsu know that he did not forfeit his battle on the first day. Burning a fire dragon slayer like that would be irony, would it not?

Lisanna kindly showed Lucy and Karen her pair of cards to let them see that she had the ten of clubs and the six of diamonds, but neither of her opponents looked like their cards had a lower pair value than sixteen. Lisanna got six points for Team Fairy Tail B, and she gave Lucy a paranoid look before she went back to her team's booth where they were waiting for her. The white-haired mage still thought that Natsu had been attracted to Lucy, thinking that his little session with Marina on the battlefield was because of something like Charm Magic, but Lisanna would eventually find out that she was wrong.

The blonde girl fiercely looked into Shelly's aqua blue eyes, seeing how they were so calm while she smirked evilly, and Lucy really wanted to earn those ten points for her team. She could hear Shelly giggling a bit, almost as if something was a bit funny, but what was there to laugh about? Lucy did not intend on losing this event to her, and she showed Shelly her pair of cards while the tanned woman did the same for Lucy. Shelly had the ten of hearts and the ten of spades, totaling up to a score of twenty, but Lucy had surprised everyone. She had the ten of diamonds, and the ace of hearts to get a score of 21.

Lucy had won the event for Team Sabertooth, having the pair of cards that totaled up to the highest numerical value, and she had earned ten more points for her guild. Shelly had earned eight points for Team Aqua Kyogre, but that still let them hold second place for now. She was glad to have helped Lucy out in this event, seeing the look on her face that told the tanned woman that she did not want to lose, and Shelly smiled in a scheming manner while knowing she just had to keep letting Lucy's confidence go up. The poker table disappeared, and both girls went back to their booths while having tasted victory.

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><p><strong>10 minutes later…<strong>

The battles of day three were now ready to begin, and everyone looked thrilled while anticipating what kinds of battles they would get to witness today. Shelly could hear the footsteps of some grunts from Aqua Kyogre heading towards the booth by going up a hallway in the Domus Flau, obviously here with the girl that she needed to see, and she smirked in a cunning manner while seeing Wendy appear in the doorway with a large bowl of sugary sweets. She had been hyper from the chocolate brownies and the chocolate cookies, even getting sugar from some vanilla ice cream sandwiches that she proceeded to eat, and the female grunts complained a bit about Wendy's appetite cleaning out their paychecks for the week.

Shelly had continued to maintain her smirk while the first battle had put Kanata Minamo from Team Aqua Kyogre up against Yaeger from Team Quatro Cerberus, and the tall male started off the match by using his Plant Magic in an attempt to make a flytrap emerge from underground to devour Kanata. However, the red-haired woman quickly spat out a long-range needle of water to hit Yaeger. While he only felt a little drop hit him, Kanata's water quickly made his whole body become encased in ice. She wanted to finish off a pointless match with ease, and Kanata gained ten more points for Team Aqua Kyogre.

The second battle was between Gray Fullbuster from Team Fairy Tail A and Risley Law from Team Mermaid Heel. Gray immediately used his Ice-Make Magic to simply make Risley be frozen inside of a large ice cube, and the ice mage gained ten more points for his team. Team Fairy Tail A was now ahead of Team Fairy Tail B by only eleven points, but could those tables turn once again? Lisanna looked confident while knowing that her team would definitely catch up to Natsu's team, especially since that would give her enough confidence to try and find out his secret, so she simply hoped for the best outcome.

The third battle pitted Toby Horhorta from Team Lamia Scale up against Cana Alberona from Team Fairy Tail B, and Cana was quick enough to play an Explosion card. This card made three sticks of lit dynamite roll towards her opponent, and the explosion from the short fuses sent Toby flying high into the skies. He landed somewhere far from the arena, presumably crashing into a house when he came down to the ground, and Cana won the match. She earned ten more points for her team, now putting them one point behind Team Fairy Tail A.

With that battle over, the final battle of the third day could now commence. It was obviously between Team Sabertooth and Team Blue Pegasus, since they were the last guilds left to fight. Sting knew that the time was finally here for him to have a great battle against whoever his opponent was, and the white dragon slayer smirked confidently with strength had made its way into his calm blue eyes. He let Lucy know that she had to give him a kiss if he managed to win against someone like Ichiya, but he looked shocked to see that the match-up gave him a pretty easy win.

Sting jumped down from his team's booth to see that he would be fighting Eve Tearm, the blond male who used Snow Magic, and the match quickly began. Eve smiled confidently while preparing to use his White Fury attack as he stepped on a small puddle, prompting Sting to charge up his strongest Holy Ray attack, but a sudden blue blast of energy that hit Eve from underneath had sent the young man flying out of the arena! Sting looked perplexed by this, not even having used one attack yet, and the white dragon slayer did not even know that Shelly had secretly duplicated the ice from Gray's match while turning it into many small explosive puddles of water as well. She had done it while the grunts from Aqua Kyogre had entered the booth with Wendy, letting her turn around to see them while no one else looking, and the tanned woman was clever.

Since Eve was out of the arena, due to Shelly not seeing this match as anything special, Sting gained the ten points for Team Sabertooth by default. He smiled calmly at the fact that his guild had another victory, especially since he had done nothing, and Sting jumped back up into Sabertooth's booth for Lector and Lucy to congratulate him on how fast he won that battle. Aqua Kyogre had definitely been getting involved in this tournament, even by tampering with the events and battles, but they were sharp-minded enough to operate in sneaky ways.

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><p><strong>Later that same day, in Crocus...<strong>

After the third day of the tournament had now come to a close, Shelly decided to take a walk through the town with Wendy while two other female grunts from Aqua Kyogre were acting as bodyguards for the black-haired woman. It wasn't that she could not defend herself right now, since she was possibly capable of even giving a tough battle to Laxus and Erza if they fought her at the same time, but Shelly wanted to keep gaining Wendy's trust. She wouldn't be the typical villain to threaten a child about gifts, especially if that child once delivered food to her dorm room at the infamous dark guild known as Aqua Kyogre, so Shelly took a different approach.

She had actually made the grunts lie in wait for the young sky dragon slayer before the event of the third day had actually began, quickly pulling her down into the puddle of water that they purposely put on the spot where she was about to sit, and let's just say that Wendy would've been glad to know that a female grunt put her hand up the blue-haired girl's skirt to grab her for this little plot to begin. Shelly had formed a pretty good bond with Wendy, since the young maiden of the sky did not really see her as an evil person, so would it really be hard to just ask Wendy to do a simple task?

The four girls were currently at an ice cream parlor, all of them enjoying a large sundae that was made with seven different kinds of chocolate, and it seemed like they were celebrating a bit better than the people on Team Sabertooth. Shelly smiled a bit while using one of the large spoons to pick up a scoop of ice cream, eating the sweet treat that was very sugary, and Wendy did not waste any time with getting a scoop for herself. The two girls were eating most of the ice cream, even though the female grunts had bought a large bowl of candy for Wendy to get her hyper, and everything was going pretty well. Shelly was quite a good schemer, right?

Despite the fact that she did not even know what Shelly was planning to use her for, Wendy still did not find the woman with beautiful aqua blue eyes to be bad in any way. Shelly had been really nice and kind to Wendy for a while now, even being like another older sister that she could turn to for advice, and the young blue-haired girl smiled happily while she ate more of the ice cream. Shelly had definitely been wanting Wendy to enjoy the sugary side of Aqua Kyogre, different from their harsh side that labeled them as thieves who were good at kicking everyone's butts, and the wheels of her plan were totally starting to move with motion.

Shelly took out a pink lipstick dispenser from the left pocket of her blue jeans, obviously not her color because she normally wore cherry red lipstick, and this was no ordinary tube of lipstick. Even though most mages used Caster Magic to be exceptionally skilled, the scientists in Aqua Kyogre had used their research and technology for the purpose of creating items that had tremendous amounts of power. Their energy could be turned into Caster Magic, thus explaining how almost everyone in the guild used varying forms of Water Magic, and the lipstick that Shelly held in her right hand had actually contained Heavenly Body Magic.

"Hey, Wendy. You know Lucy from the Sabertooth guild, right? Well, when I was shopping at the mall on the second day of the Grand Magic Games, I found this color of lipstick that is just perfect for her to be wearing. The only little problem that I have here is that we both know she won't accept any kind of gift from me, so I was thinking that someone close to Lucy could give this to her. Please do it for me, Wendy, and I promise that you shall be greatly rewarded." Shelly told her young friend in a calm manner, as she held the tube of lipstick in her right hand.

The little girl with blue hair replied in a very happy manner, resting her head on Shelly's chest while eating so much sugar had greatly improved her sense of smell, "I will definitely give the lipstick to Lucy, Shelly-sama, and it does seem like you two are really good rivals. It's always good to have someone that you can compete with, especially in the Grand Magic Games, and it's good to see how you both are only slamming your fury down on Fairy Tail. It may seem like manipulation and love make you two seem worlds apart, since you've both kissed Sting, but you actually make a really good team in the idea that you're both against Fairy Tail."

As Wendy took the lipstick from Shelly, before she ran out of the ice cream parlor to find Lucy thankfully passing by while she was on her way to the department store in Crocus, the tanned woman could only look a bit interested while she gave some thought to Wendy's words. Lucy had definitely been against Fairy Tail because of the major fact that Natsu had cheated on her with Lisanna, and Shelly was against the fairies because they would get in the way of Aqua Kyogre's plans. The two girls had a common enemy, which was true, but Shelly just simply had to bring out Lucy's bad side to let her know how to truly get revenge. It was quite interesting to have a plan within her current plan, was it not?

Shelly looked outside the window of the ice cream shop to see Wendy giving the lipstick to Lucy, only for the blonde girl to accidentally smudge it on the purple spell book, and the color of the book turned pink while pink beams of light were now emanating from the first page of the seventh section in the book. The pink smudge had now faded away, letting this new type of magic sink down into the book, and Shelly giggled a bit while she could tell that the blonde mage would definitely enjoy this new type of magic. It was more good than bad, and Shelly had quite the good strategy.

Upon seeing Wendy run back into the ice cream parlor while Lucy was on her way to the department store in the city of Crocus, Shelly knew that her task had been done with ease. She decided to let the two female grunts take Wendy elsewhere, since she needed to spend some time stalking Lucy, and Shelly had done her research on the book. Let's just say that the black-haired woman knew something special about the strange item, knowing that something so good was paired with a pretty wicked item, and she simply had to do the work of giving it to Lucy herself. After all, even rivals needed time to chat.

* * *

><p><strong>Meanwhile, at Fairy Tail's inn...<strong>

Lisanna had been feeling pretty good right now, due to the fact that both of the teams representing Fairy Tail were now in the top four, and the white-haired mage had just gotten back from eating lunch at a restaurant with Cana. The guild had every right to celebrate these wins that were greatly needed, especially since no one even knew that Shelly's little group of cheaters had been messing with them, and Lisanna wanted to throw a party at the inn with Natsu at her side. This party would be transpiring two days from now, which meant that it was on the break day of the Grand Magic Games, and the happy couple would even have a video of their love.

Natsu had told her that he wanted the video to be up on a Lacrima Vision screen that would be visible to everyone in Crocus, mostly because he was going to show off his wonderful affair with the blue-eyed girl to make Lucy possibly feel stupid for not being good enough to keep him as her boyfriend, but his plans to make Lucy feel any envy would not come true. She had actually been glad that Lisanna had the nerve to confess her feelings to Natsu when he had been dating Lucy, so now those two fairies could begin to see each other's faults. Lisanna thought that everything would smoothly, but fate had definitely proved her wrong.

Even though Marina was no longer part of the Fairy Tail guild, since almost everyone had seen her as a traitor for joining Aqua Kyogre, Natsu still assigned the teal-haired girl with the task of planning the party for the seven-month anniversary. Marina had agreed to keep on helping Natsu, even though she had also been seducing him with love and sexual appeal, but Lisanna never knew that the fire dragon slayer was cheating on her. Him and Marina had been sleeping together for quite a while now, even to the point where they would rock the bed, but Lisanna had never suspected anything.

She had a calm look in her blue eyes while thinking that Natsu was just thinking about beating down Lucy in the Grand Magic Games, not really having any romantic interest in her, so Natsu was not trying to make Lucy run back to him. She truly never would come running back to the guy who had cheated on her while making the guild members not talk to her as well, since Sting was a much better guy who actually had manners and decency, so this meant that Lisanna would not have to worry about having Lucy in some possible love triangle. However, just because one worry was now out of question, were there no other hindrances in the way of Lisanna loving Natsu?

The white-haired mage had been standing outside of Natsu's door, getting ready to ask him if he wanted to go out to someplace in Crocus with her, but Lisanna gasped a bit when she heard the sound of something like sighing. Natsu had immediately gone back to the inn when the third day of the tournament ended, seeming like he had urgent business, but when in the world did Natsu sigh like a female? There was steam coming from under the door, meaning that Natsu had made the room become pretty hot, but didn't he have the common sense to not make the water in the shower become to hot? As Lisanna put her right ear near the door, what she heard was shocking.

"That bath felt so good, Natsu, and the fact that we're in bed together is another reason why I love you. Ahhhhhhhh... Just let that big member stay deep inside my womb, and it felt good when you filled me up with your hotness. It's so warm, and I hope that we'll never get caught. It's like you love sleeping with the enemy, since you even rub my body when it gets cold on some nights." Marina told Natsu in a pleasured manner while she actually blushed red from the wonderful feeling of him inside her, still loving how she could use him like a piece of trash.

The fire dragon slayer replied in a confident tone as he smirked, being on top of Marina while they were nude together, "I love how you're the enemy, Marina, and I love being able to have these sexy moments with you. It always feels so good to push down into you, since you're just as good as Lisanna, and your body just makes me want to rub it all over. I would even rub your abs again, since you're strong enough to pin me down while you do push-ups on me, and our nights of pleasure are great. If things fail with Lisanna, I want you to be mine."

Upon hearing those words coming from two voices of two certain people, Lisanna could only narrow her blue eyes while tightly clenching her fists. In case things were to somehow fail with the love that they had, Natsu already had a backup partner? He was totally a cheating bilge rat, since he was being pretty dirty to cheat in an affair where he already had a mistress, and Lisanna could not believe that he was having an affair within an affair. She immediately gasped, making it to where Natsu's enhanced hearing picked up on her voice being nearby, and he was definitely close to being in trouble. Even though Lisanna heard what happened, she needed actual proof.

* * *

><p><strong>How was Chapter 20? Did you like it? Sorry if there wasn't much StiCy, but I wanted to develop the NaLi and NaMa more for this chapter. Sting will have a better battle coming up, so don't worry. Sorry if Wendy was OOC, but it was only for comic relief in this chapter. Anyway, what spells will Lucy learn? What happens in the tag-team battle to make Natsu finally see her power, and what does Shelly do to Erza that makes Fairy Tail implode with more conflicts? Standby for the update!<strong>


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 21: Whether Wanting To Make Amends Or Get Revenge, Shelly and Marina Interfere<strong>

* * *

><p>Sting had awoken to the sounds of birds chirping on the ledges of his room's balcony, along with light shining through the windows while the sun was rising into the sky. That signaled the end of the third night and the beginning of the fourth day of the Grand Magic Games. Sting knew the sponsors had never changed how the battle format went, even though they changed the events, and this was the day for the tag-team battles to occur. Instead of battling alone, people had to battle in teams of two. That would certainly call for twice the amount of fun, would it not?<p>

He still remembered how he and Rogue lost to Natsu and Gajeel last year, causing Jiemma to be extremely angry with them. Sting wanted to win against them as payback for Fairy Tail having Mavis to give them an easy strategy for victory. Cana had accidentally blurted that out at last year's banquet, and Sting felt like Fairy Tail's outside help had really cheated Sabertooth out of a fair win. That was certainly an unfair advantage, was it not? He didn't want to just win for his sake, but he wanted to be partnered with Lucy because she had her reasons for wanting to get back at her brash ex-boyfriend. Natsu was so incredibly harsh to her, and Lucy thought that by beating Fairy Tail that she would be stronger than how she was in the past.

Also, Sting had the intent of winning in his blue eyes from witnessing Natsu's brash and dense attitude firsthand during the Pillar Battle event. The fire dragon slayer referred to Lucy as useless, which definitely prompted him to get first place. Not only did Sting detest Natsu's attitude towards Lucy, but the fact that he had been bullying her around like she was weaker than him and showed no remorse whatsoever about the whole situation only fueled Sting's drive to win today. He was going to make his girlfriend proud, especially if they were partnered up today.

Drifting his negative thoughts and passionate drive aside for a moment, Sting smiled a little when he saw his girlfriend sleeping and snoring softly while having her head on his chest while her hands were on the white dragon slayer's rock-hard abdominals. Lucy was smiling and blushing happily while she was still getting her energy back from the lovely night that she had with Sting, and she let out a blissful sigh while she appeared to be having a wonderful dream. When she unconsciously planted a kiss on Sting's chest, he chuckled a little bit and ran his fingers through her long blonde hair.

The soft and warm feeling caused Lucy to slowly open her cocoa brown eyes, and she blushed a deep shade of red while gasping a little when she looked up at Sting to see him chuckling happily from her lips giving soft kisses to his skin. She released her lips from his skin, and smiled when Sting put his arms around her waist. The duo laid under the white bed sheets together, realizing they were both nude, but they had trusted each other immensely to know that moves wouldn't be made in any way unless they wanted to reach that point in their relationship.

"Good morning, Sting. It's a beautiful morning for the fourth day, and that sunrise feels so renewing. Fate might truly shine on us today, and it will probably be bright like the lovely white light that you create from your magic." Lucy told him while smiling and speaking in her beautifully calm voice, before looking into her boyfriend's enchanting blue eyes and happily giggling.

"The sunrise isn't beautiful like you, though. Anyway, I hope you know that today is going to be where people battle in pairs for the tag-team battles. It's been like that ever since the Grand Magic Games first began. I just know it'll be some far from random matchup, since Sabertooth fought against Fairy Tail last year, and I hope that we can be in it together. Good morning to you, too, by the way." Sting replied with his usual cocky grin, as he looked into her brown eyes that were filled with determination and caressed her back softly.

Lucy had remembered last year's tag battle between Fairy Tail and Sabertooth, and she had been cheering for Natsu. This year, as a member of Sabertooth, she was no longer weak like how she had been back then. If she were to compete alongside Sting, with Natsu and whoever else as her opponents, if would definitely be a test to herself to see if her future could officially overcome her past. It would also be pretty lucky, if the matchup perfectly ended up in her favor. Wouldn't that certainly be a joyous gift from fate? After all, if the odds ended up in her favor, Lucy would probably cherish the upcoming victory for the rest of her life.

Now that it was the fourth day, she also wondered what the event would be like. She knew from personal experience how Minerva had almost killed her in the Naval Battle last year, but Lucy also knew that was ancient history. Minerva had not been seen since last year's Grand Magic Games, making some people wonder what had happened to her, and not a trace of her had been found anywhere. Lucy had even thought that Shelly could be a relative of Minerva, but that was highly unlikely. What would the event for the fourth day be like, with the past three events being different for the competition this year?

"Well, no matter who it is from Fairy Tail, we're going to win this thing! I might not be as strong as Erza or Laxus right now, but that will not stop me from trying my best to wipe that arrogant grin off of my jerky ex-boyfriend's face! He may think that it's funny to refer to me as weak, but I can tell you right now that I will definitely show Natsu how much of a threat I can be to him in a battle! Besides, it'll be good to show Shelly that I always bring pain to my enemies!" Lucy responded to Sting with confidence in her voice and strong sense of ambition in her cocoa brown eyes.

Sting could only smile at how much more emotionally strong Lucy had become, ever since the day where Lucy lost to Shelly in the Oceanic Museum, and her confidence and strength in herself had really been improving. In fact, when she had been sparring with Sting after the games were held on the first two days, their battles ended in a draw both times. Lucy had been getting physically stronger as well, most likely because of the power of her spell book, and all of her new strength was also improving the power of her Celestial Spirits as well.

Lucy got off of Sting, and she got out of the bed to stand up and stretch her body out. She felt her muscles pop and relax, before proceeding to walk over to the brown bureau in the room to get her pink spell book and pick out some cute clothes. She had now swapped rooms with Rogue, since Lucy had wanted to be closer to Sting, and she was very happy that Rogue agreed to the swap without any debate. Calm people like him and Yukino certainly got along fine, so there was nothing to worry about. Lucy's team had definitely been cruising through the tournament with peace and ease, thus making things less tense like they had been last year for Sabertooth.

She had now put on a red T-shirt with a pink miniskirt to match, and Lucy also put on some black flat shoes as well. She always had a tendency to look her best in almost any outfit, but stylish clothes were not complete without a sweet smell to greatly go with them. Lucy pulled out a bottle of cherry perfume from the right pocket of her miniskirt, spraying its sweet scent on to her body, and she smiled happily at how the bottle was pink like the magic that she'd be testing out today. Even though it was wrong to do a bunch of practice tests during a real fight, wouldn't Lucy still be getting information about the new spells?

Sting had now gotten his usual clothes on, and he narrowed his eyes while looking at the alarm clock in the room that he now shared with Lucy. The Grand Magic Games started at 9:40 in the morning today, and it was now 8:50 in the morning. He smirked at the amount of time that him and Lucy had, prompting him to challenge her to another race to the Domus Flau. He kissed her lips softly, kissing them with passionate ease to get her psyched up, and Sting ran out of the room with a smile on his face. Lucy ran after him, not caring about the race, but to return that nice kiss.

* * *

><p><strong>15 minutes later...<strong>

After getting some bags of chocolate donut holes and mochaccinos to drink for breakfast, Sting and Lucy were on their way to the entrance of the Domus Flau. Feeling the warmth from the shining sun, the blonde girl had a poised smirk on her face. Even as she walking towards the day that could take any kind of turn, Lucy still had the belief that a sunrise foreshadowed great things to come her way. Would she be correct about this belief, and would Sting's prediction about the match-up also be correct? What was going to happen on the fourth day of the Grand Magic Games?

As they made their way towards the entrance, however, Lucy narrowed her cocoa brown eyes when she saw Shelly walking towards her and Sting with a confident look on her face. Lucy had never liked Shelly, since this conflict began from the moment that the two girls met, and the blonde girl was still mad at the black-haired woman for kissing Sting. Lucy did not even want to talk with Shelly, not even knowing that she was the one who made Wendy give the lipstick to Lucy, and this moment could probably be a casual talk or it would result in a battle that would happen outside the arena.

When the two girls were now face to face, Sting gulped a bit while hoping that they would not start delivering blows to each other. He knew that any mages who were caught fighting outside of the events and battles would be disqualified, along with their teammates getting kicked out of the Grand Magic Games as well, and that would certainly not be good. He did not want Team Sabertooth to get banned for three years because of the conflict that Lucy had with Shelly, and the white dragon slayer looked a bit nervous while he hoped that nothing would erupt from the two girls crossing paths like this.

Shelly could see the fierce look in her rival's eyes, really taking a liking to the fiery determination that Lucy always seemed to have, and the woman with beautiful aqua blue eyes knew that Lucy would eventually be here. Shelly was not here for a fight, but she simply wanted to try and let Lucy know that this tournament was not actually an easy ride. Shelly knew very well that Fairy Tail would be trying really hard to make up for all of the points that they lost, meaning that they would be fierce in the tag-team battle like last year, so she started off the conversation by calmly telling Lucy to not get lazy.

Just because Team Sabertooth had 60 points right now, that still didn't mean that they could let their guard down at any moment or have a false sense of security. The tanned woman wrapped her arms around Lucy's waist, bringing the Celestial Spirit Wizard closer to her while giving her a gentle hug, and Shelly let out a soft breath of air while she let Lucy smell the aroma of sweet honey from the shampoo that she had used to wash her body. Lucy sighed a bit while resting her head on Shelly's chest, mainly because of the sweet honey making her feel more relaxed, and Shelly smirked a bit while taking Wendy's words from yesterday into consideration.

"I truly hope that you've been noticing the situation, Lucy. Team Sabertooth and Team Aqua Kyogre are holding first place and second place, so I think that our motives would go well together. You want to get revenge on Fairy Tail for keeping you in the dark about your ex-boyfriend's affair that he had with Lisanna, as well as for the time that Natsu barged into the Sabertooth guild to hurt you, and I don't like Fairy Tail because of how rude they are. After all, let's not forget how Cana had attacked me when I was simply on my way to do some shopping while I simply put some insight into the thoughts that she spoke aloud." Shelly told Lucy in a calm manner, smirking evilly as she gently rubbed her rival's back with her warm hands in an attempt to coax her into forming an alliance.

Lucy replied nicely while smiling a bit, being happy at the fantasy of getting back at her old friends for siding with a cheating jerk like Natsu, "After that day, Shelly, I came to realize that you were right. I never should've assumed that Cana was the one being hurt by you, and I'm sorry for attacking you. Even though you kissed Sting, which still makes me jealous when I think about it, I still kinda laugh at how you unleashed those large farts on Cana. She really reeked with a nasty stench, and it looks like the enemies of my enemies are my friends. I do want to beat down Natsu today, and then you and I will someday have our fated final battle."

Shelly was glad to hear Lucy refer to her as a friend now, meaning that the black-haired woman was closer to having the blonde mage join Aqua Kyogre, and she smirked deviously at the fact that one of her male grunts had the job of tampering with the match-ups for the fourth day. Shelly was going to make sure that Sabertooth would fight against one of the Fairy Tail teams while Aqua Kyogre would fight Fairy Tail as well, hoping for the book's new level of power to be unleashed, and Shelly whispered in Lucy's ear that she wanted to see her fight with full force while using great tactics.

Lucy was about to confidently tell Shelly that she would do her best, until the tanned woman walked past the blonde mage while her aqua blue eyes could see that Sting had let out a sigh of relief. He had truly thought that the girls were going to end up fighting in the middle of the walkway to the arena, thinking that their feud would be the end of the line for Team Sabertooth, and Sting gulped a bit while Shelly walked towards him. He could see the cherry red lipstick on her lips while she smiled in a sultry way, possibly planning to freeze him with a kiss, and Sting simply kept his guard up.

Much to his surprise, however, Shelly gave him a soft kiss on the lips to efface his fear of being eliminated from the Grand Magic Games. Shelly's kiss was full of warmth, since she was a good kisser like Lucy, and the blonde mage stepped back to get some distance before she ran towards Shelly from behind. Lucy had noticed that her rival was in her lacy white bra and lacy white panties, since no people were heading to the stadium right now, but Lucy was stopped in her tracks when she heard Shelly giggle while she took off her bra and panties. She threw them at Lucy, before simply turning into a puddle of water that slithered all the way to the arena.

Lucy blushed pink while holding Shelly's clothes in her hands, but she was also furious with her rival for seducing Sting into this little alliance as well. She had practically shown him how beautiful she could be in the nude, letting that kiss be her way of getting him to feel good about this, and Lucy angrily told him that they had to get inside the Domus Flau. As Sting made the red blush leave his face, hoping that Lector would bring him a cheeseburger to replace the taste of Shelly's lips, he sighed in an annoyed manner while knowing that a battle between Lucy and Shelly would probably result in Sabertooth paying for damages to the entire city of Crocus.

* * *

><p><strong>20 minutes later…<strong>

Sting and Lucy made it to Sabertooth's booth where their teammates had been waiting for them, and they also looked over at the booths where the other teams were located. While Team Quatro Cerberus looked saddened about their losing streak happening once again, Team Aqua Kyogre looked pretty content about the fact that they had been keeping second place for a while now. Shelly did not even seem to care about winning the trophy, by the way she was so fixated on Lucy unleashing her skills, but seeing that new power would be like the victory of having a plan come to fruition. Shelly was also now wearing her blue midriff top and blue jeans, by the way.

The female grunts working under her were actually not there to just take up filler battles, but they would eventually find out what Shelly needed to know about her fierce blonde rival. Lucy still had unreadable spells in each type of magic, so she was not exactly someone to be crazily excited over. Her level of power had been increasing to higher levels, reaching a bit farther each time, and Shelly smiled with confidence in her aqua blue eyes while she knew that the grunts who had been watching Lucy in secrecy had told her about the many possible moves that Lucy could create.

Shelly was really glad about the truce that she had now made with Lucy, even though she had kissed Sting in a smart attempt to get the brown-eyed girl focused on beating down her rivals, and the black-haired woman smirked while she remembered how Marina had told her last night that she could hear Lisanna's gasp of shock when the white-haired mage stood outside the door to Natsu's suite. She had definitely heard the conversation that Natsu and Marina had while they were getting it on in the afternoon, and Shelly was glad that Fairy Tail would implode with a huge conflict. Well, let's just say that one conflict would not be enough to help Shelly with Fairy Tail's destruction.

Lucy shifted her attention from Team Sweet Melancholy to the booths where both of the Fairy Tail teams were located, seeing her main rivals for the day, and Natsu continued to look pretty scared of Erza. She had threatened him to not get distracted by any of the beautiful girls from Team Aqua Kyogre in the Grand Magic Games, or else he would receive a pretty severe punishment. Natsu had truly wanted to do his best this year, even if Marina had been using love to play with his feelings, and the fire dragon slayer could only keep his attention focused on her beauty while she playfully blew a kiss to him.

He had not even noticed that Lisanna clenched her fists tightly while she had clearly seen playful flirting from the booth where Team Fairy Tail B was located, really seeing that what she heard was the truth, and the blue-eyed girl could not believe that the pink-haired male was dense enough to cheat on her after he had cheated on Lucy to get with her. It was definitely a romantic matrix, since an affair was within an affair, but that was still not allowed. Lisanna had truly loved Natsu, and she just could not understand what he saw in Marina. It actually had more to do with her scent, than her good looks.

Lisanna really had to wonder when this little affair between Natsu and Marina had began, since he had not shown any interest in her when she first entered the Fairy Tail guild, and the blue-eyed girl promised herself that she would find out everything about what her deceitful boyfriend had been doing behind her back. Lisanna had not ruled out the theory that Marina was playing Natsu, however, and the side of Lisanna that saw the good points about the fire dragon slayer had to wonder if her boyfriend was just being used by an evil girl from Aqua Kyogre. However, what vital info could Marina get by talking to someone idiotic and dense like Natsu?

Lucy had looked in her pink spell book to see that the first four spells of Heavenly Body Magic had been fully written, meaning that they were officially ready to be used, and she smiled at the thought of getting to try them out in the upcoming tag-team battle. Of course, she first had to see if she would even get to be in it. Lucy had really wanted to show off her teamwork with Sting in the tag-team battle, knowing that she could do a good job with him at her side, and they would definitely win that battle. Even though it was never good to experiment in a battle that wasn't a practice session, would things turn out okay for Lucy?

However, before the battles could even transpire, everyone would have to get through the event first. What kind of event would be, and how exactly would it go down? Lucy remembered yesterday how she had almost gotten eighth place in the card game event that required pure luck, and Shelly's cheating ways were the only thing that kept her from losing. She had not even properly thanked her neutral ally for what she had done, making a risky move like that to help Lucy, and the blonde girl saw the subject of Shelly being her friend as a subject that was up for debate.

Lucy gasped a bit while she still held the undergarments of her rival in her left hand, feeling them to be really soft, and the blonde mage checked the tag on the white lacy panties to see that Shelly wore the same brand as her. It was only in a larger size, however, and Lucy also found it weird that a member of Aqua Kyogre would be bold enough to show her face in a department store. Well, it wasn't really weird to see villains enter public stores. They had to buy things and purchase items for various reasons as well, right? Even though Shelly and Lucy were complete opposites, they both shared the goal of taking down Fairy Tail.

She did not want to really admit it, mostly because she thought that liking anything about Shelly would make her think that she could steal Sting, but Lucy had actually wanted to see Shelly beat down Cana today for some sweet revenge. Even though Lucy had been the one to bruise up Shelly with her Earth Magic, the blonde mage could tell that Shelly would try to mangle her if they ever had to fight again. Even though the next day was a break day in the Grand Magic Games, Lucy could guess that the battle would be explosive if she ran into Shelly during the survival tournament.

* * *

><p>"Welcome to day four of the Grand Magic Games, ladies, gentlemen, boys, and girls! So far, Sabertooth is keeping the lead, but the Fairy Tail teams are right behind them with Sweet Melancholy following them! Can anyone rattle the standings in the tag-team battles and the event today? Will Sabertooth keep this consistent streak of good fortune? Let's see what happens!" Chapati shouted while having a smile on his face, knowing one of today's battles would be the best in the history of the Grand Magic Games.<p>

Everyone looked curious as to what the event would be, since the last three had been pretty thrilling. What was going to happen? Would it be like the Naval Battle, or would something else transpire and be just as exciting to watch? Either way, the event would probably test the physical and mental abilities of the participants. Sting wanted to handle this event, thinking that it would make for yesterday's disappointment of him not getting the chance to battle, but he received a kiss on the cheek from Lucy while kindly telling him that he just needed to have some patience.

Chapati immediately stated that the event for the fourth day would be known as "Treasure Master", The game, as weird as it sounded, would be mentally and physically challenging. The game involved turning the sandy battlefield of the Domus Flau into a place of treasure, filling it with many treasure chests, and only eight of them had a lot of golden jewels inside of them. Each participant would be given one key to help them, but they could only use it on one treasure chest. If they guessed wrong, they'd get eliminated from the event.

The competitors could also eliminate each other by using any kind of magic to attack each other, since spells could also be used to open chests without any drawbacks. However, someone would be eliminated from the event after being attacked three times. This event was basically a mental, physical, and luck-based challenge all put into one bigger challenge. Someone could also get eliminated if they happened to run out of magical power, too, which really set the difficulty of this event to a pretty high level. Who would step forward to compete in an event that had such strict rules?

"I can totally rock at this event, guys! Leave it to me, and I'll get all the bags of gold before anyone else gets to them! Things like gold, silver, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, diamonds, and pearls are pretty shiny like light. Since that works with my magic, I'm going to get them all. I'll make Sabertooth totally rich." Sting told everyone in Sabertooth's booth in a confident manner, totally ready to do his best in this event, and he had blinked his charming blue eyes at Lucy in an attempt to get her to go along with his idea.

Much to his surprise, however, Orga spoke up about competing in this event. He was grinning with a pretty positive attitude about this, stating how he would turn the other competitors into piles of black lightning chili, and the Lightning God Slayer was also confident that his type of magic could easily beat anyone else's in a contest like this. After all, did he really need to use a key when his Lightning God's Charged Particle Cannon could easily destroy every single treasure chest on the battlefield in a swift manner? Also, would he be lucky enough to select the right treasure chest?

Orga assured his team that everything would be fine, and he jumped down on to the battlefield while volunteering for Team Sabertooth. The fact that he was competing made Laxus Dreyar from Team Fairy Tail A volunteer to do something like this, knowing full well that he could easily take out the other competitors and take advantage of any electrically-charged treasure chests, but Erza had decided to do it in his place because she wanted him to keep a close eye on Natsu. She knew that something was up, but she could not get him to spit it out. Plus, with her many swords, Erza could easily win.

Lisanna volunteered once again for Team Fairy Tail B, knowing fully well how she had done such a good job yesterday, and Mira saw no problem with it. As the younger Strauss sister went down to the sandy battlefield, she glared at Natsu once again for what he had done. She would get back at him for sleeping with Marina, especially since he let another woman sleep with him in his luxury suite. Really, what kind of guy would not even ask his own girlfriend to sleep in bed with him? Natsu was definitely a dense jerk, and Lisanna planned to break up with him pretty soon. Even though she didn't know that Aqua Kyogre was behind Fairy Tail's first few losses, Lisanna still vowed to beat them down.

Shelly had made a purple-haired girl named Midna do this event for Team Aqua Kyogre, having a deceptive smirk on her face while knowing that cheating would be involved once again, and the strange woman knew that no one really paid much attention to people who seemed to be playing by the rules. Midna had shoulder-length purple hair, cerulean blue eyes, and she also wore a light blue T-shirt while matching it with a pair of Daisy Dukes. She also wore some amethyst purple flat shoes as well, and they went well with the rest of her outfit.

Team Lamia Scale had chosen Yuka Suzuki to participate for them, since he could easily open each treasure chest by sealing away the magic that was on each one of them, and he grinned with overconfidence while going out on to the battlefield. Jenny Realight from Team Blue Pegasus knew that she could transform numerous duplicates of the same key into her hands by using her Transformation Magic, and sneaky tricks like that would surprisingly be permitted in this event that involved probability. How far would she get in the event, though?

Kagura strangely stepped forward for Team Mermaid Heel, really feeling like she had to do this for her team to get some points, and the other girls allowed her to try and win for them. She also wanted to see how powerful Erza would be in their rematch, even if it could not wait until the final day of the Grand Magic Games. Team Quatro Cerberus selected Rocker to try and get them a win that they desperately needed, and his drilling skills could prove to be useful on any treasure chests that weren't infused with magic of any kind.

When all of the competitors were out on the field, Mato had a happy smile on his face while he commanded the field to open once again. The sandy ground changed into a tiled white floor while small black chests began to be magically created, each chest being only a few inches apart from another, and everyone looked surprised to find golden keys appearing in their hands. The keys were only good for one try, so getting careless in a situation like this would be a pretty bad idea. Who would find the treasure first, and who would leave empty-handed?

As a gong was struck for the event to begin, Midna smirked a bit while exhaling some purple gas from her mouth. This gas seemed to be an ordinary smokescreen, since Lisanna's Animal Soul: Wings spell proved to effective in blowing the smoke away, but the white-haired mage looked shocked to soon see purple blasts of energy transpiring in front of her. Some of them had decimated a few treasure chests, even though they were revealed to have no gold bars inside of them, and one of the blasts had struck Rocker from Team Quatro Cerberus. He was sent flying back into his team's booth, earning zero points for them, and they had received last place in this event.

Midna had used the same technique on Kagura, who tried to kick Erza in her left side while she tried to open a treasure chest, but the purple smoke clouds had turned into blobs of sludge that stuck themselves to Kagura's body. She ended up falling down to the ground, looking shocked to know that Midna's purple sludge glued her to the ground like she was trapped in paste, and Midna also let the smoke go underneath Kagura to fully glue her to the floor. The property-changing abilities used by the members of Aqua Kyogre were really a force to be reckoned with, and Kagura was warped back to her team's booth because she had been deemed unable to continue. Team Mermaid Heel received only one point in this event, and it was clear that Team Aqua Kyogre expanded their variety of people to sabotage.

With Kagura now out of the event, Erza had quickly used this chance to oust Jenny Realight from the game by simply giving her three soft hits on the head. Anyone who was hit three times would be eliminated from the event, and Jenny got sixth place. Team Blue Pegasus got only two points once again, much to their frustration, but Hibiki comically hugged Jenny while being glad that she had not been targeted by Midna's purple smoke that could explode with a blast or be nasty like sludge while gluing the person down to the ground as well.

Yuka had been using his Wave Magic on every treasure chest on the battlefield, sealing away all the different kinds of magic that would serve as booby traps, but he had not managed to find any of the chests that were filled with the golden jewels. Taking a risk, he looked stern while using his golden key on the treasure chest in front of him. The key fit perfectly into the keyhole, opening the treasure chest, but Yuka did not find gold. Instead, he received a harsh punch to the face by a springy boxing glove. He was sent all the way back to his team's booth, earning only three points for Team Lamia Scale, and Ooba spun around in frustration.

Wanting some payback on Natsu for sleeping with Marina, as she could guess that they had even made things hot in the private suite, Lisanna went into her Animal Soul: Tigress Take-Over while maintaining the fierce look on her face. She charged towards Midna, intent on bringing the pain to Aqua Kyogre, but the purple-haired girl simply exhaled a large cloud of smoke that only made it hard for Lisanna to see. Midna decided to let the white-haired mage use her Animal Soul: Wings spell to blow the smoke away, and Lisanna had used her golden key to open the treasure chest in front of her. She looked a bit content with the fact that she found a can of Coca-Cola and a bag of potato chips inside of it, seeing that as a good reward, and Lisanna gained four points for Team Fairy Tail B while she was warped back to her team's booth.

Erza narrowed her brown eyes at the sight of how Midna was quickly taking out people, not seeming to really have the desire to guess which treasure chest had some gold bars inside of it, and the scarlet-haired mage looked shocked to see Midna exhaling the smoke at the key that she held in her hands. The smoke had caused Erza's golden key to crack into pieces, mainly because of Midna unleashing smoke that could make anything disintegrate into dust, and a ruined key meant that Erza was eliminated from this event. She received six points for team, before being sent back to the booth of Team Fairy Tail A.

Orga and Midna were now the only ones left in the game, and the Lightning God Slayer looked very puzzled while he could not even decide on which treasure chest to choose first. He was at the third row out of five, each row having eight treasure chests in it, and only one had not been opened by a golden key or by magic. He looked a bit nervous while thinking about whether or not to open it, and Orga looked up at the other members of Team Sabertooth. Lucy and Sting were cheering alongside Lector, Frosch, Happy, Carla, and Wendy. All of them wanted him to open it, so he gulped nervously and went for it.

As the green-haired male turned his key in the keyhole to open up the treasure chest, he gasped in shock at the sight of Midna happily laughing while she had opened up another treasure chest. She was oddly enough being shocked by electrical eels that had been in a treasure chest that was filled with water, giving her second place in this event, and Orga opened up his treasure chest to find the golden jewels. He looked triumphant while beginning to sing about the many golden dollar bills, and he would spend them on many things. Team Sabertooth received ten points, and Team Aqua Kyogre earned eight points in the event.

Since the event was now over, the tiled floor and the treasure chests vanished while the battlefield turned back to being sandy with the ground having a brown color. While the crowd was cheering for Orga, even though he had won by doing almost nothing and not getting involved with the quarrels of the others, Rogue and the other mages in Sabertooth's booth were waiting for the tag-team battles to begin. Lucy and Sting both looked eager to find out if fate would smile on them today, giving them what they wanted. Would the duo be matched up against their destined foes, or would Shelly be two-faced enough to betray them?

* * *

><p><strong>15 minutes later…<strong>

The tag-team battles of day four had finally come around, with Bacchus & Nobarly from Quatro Cerberus going up against Kagura & Arania from Mermaid Heel. Kagura defeated both of the males with one slash of her unsheathed sword, possibly causing an airwave to strike them. Mermaid Heel won the match, and now had 24 points while Quatro Cerberus had zero points. Even though Mermaid Heel now had their second victory in the Grand Magic Games, it still was not enough to really reach up to Kagura's high expectations of her team.

* * *

><p>The second battle had pitted Eve Tearm and Ren Akatsuki from Team Blue Pegasus up against Lyon Vastia and Chelia Blendy from Team Lamia Scale The match had started off with Ren trying to use Aerial Phose to send Lyon into the air for wind to attack him, but Chelia had just inhaled Ren's attack because she was a Sky God Slayer. Chelia managed to overpower Ren with Sky God's Boreas, effectively knocking him out with the black winds, and Lyon had struck Eve head-on with some of his ice eagles. Team Lamia Scale won the match, earning ten more points.<p>

* * *

><p>The third battle put Marina and Shelly from Team Aqua Kyogre up against Mirajane Strauss and Cana Alberona from Team Fairy Tail B. Cana had wanted to get back at Shelly for being a contributing factor in ruining her bond with Lucy, making the blonde mage no longer see her as a friend, and Cana had not forgotten how Shelly farted on her to show that Fairy Tail really did stink with the stench of betrayal. While the brown-haired girl narrowed her violet eyes at Shelly, ready to take her down, Mirajane kept staring sternly at a smirking Marina while wondering why the teal-haired girl had joined up with Aqua Kyogre.<p>

Mira was not sour at the girls on Team Aqua Kyogre, even though Mizu beat her in their match on the first day of the Grand Magic Games, but Cana was angry at Shelly for acting like she was a saint that was on Lucy's side. Even though Cana wanted to send a few insults towards her black-haired opponent, she truly knew that the facts of reality still stood in place. How could she openly blame Shelly for wrecking her friendship with Lucy, especially since Cana knew that she could've prevented Lucy's heartbreak from occurring by telling Natsu to not have an affair with Lisanna?

When the gong was struck for the battle to really begin, Cana was quickly attacked by Shelly! The top female of Aqua Kyogre had made an icy white aura surround her left fist, as she delivered a harsh hit to Cana's abdomen, and the iciness from her hand made a large chunk of ice surround Cana's legs while it reached up to her abdomen. She quickly played a card of Fire Magic to try and unfreeze the ice, not knowing that the abnormal ice would react violently when fire made contact with it, and a light blue blast of ice energy transpired around Cana! The power of the blast was focused into one point, making the card mage become heavily damaged, and Mira could only look shocked to see her friend fall to the ground while she groaned in pain.

The white-haired mage was caught off guard by the sight of Cana being injured, not even paying attention to the fact that Marina unleashed a large vortex of scalding hot water from her mouth, and Mirajane was pushed backwards while she screamed in pain from the boiling hot water burning her body. She could not even have time to transform, since Shelly dashed at her from behind to kick her up into the air, and Shelly simply aimed water at the ground to propel herself high into the skies. She had gotten a few feet above Mira, smirking evilly while kicking her harshly in the back, and the oldest Strauss sibling was sent crashing into the ground with a hard slam.

As large clouds of dust filled the Domus Flau, making some people get sand in their eyes, Lucy could only put her arms in front of her body while finding the amount of power in Shelly's lone kick to be extreme. She was even scarier than Minerva, despite the fact that some of the male grunts in Aqua Kyogre wanted to date her, and Lucy knew that she had to get her own physical and magical strength up to those higher levels if Shelly and Marina had defeated people like Cana and Mira with ease. After all, one powerful kick from Shelly might have sent Lucy to the hospital while the tanned woman would help Sting cope with his girlfriend's death by giving him pleasure. (I know that romantic comedy seems to be up my alley, and many of you readers have liked the suggestive pairing of Sting x Shelly.)

When the dust had finally settled, the audience got to see Shelly and Marina standing over the bodies of their opponents from the guild of Fairy Tail. The ground had actually been full of cracks, meaning that it would break apart soon because of Mira crashing into the ground from being struck by Shelly's kick, and Mato quickly placed his hands on the ground to restore the battlefield to its natural state for the fourth match. Team Aqua Kyogre gained ten more points, making most of the crowd cheer in response, and Elfman went on to the field to take his teammates back to Team Fairy Tail B's booth.

Chapati announced with a thrilled expression while he looked at the names for the final match of the day, "This last match is sure to get all the couples in the stadium excited! You think Lacrima Vision screens are only in the arena, but they aren't! We've seen one of these duos making out around town while the other duo is pretty dysfunctional, and this is sure to be a good match! Just like last year, it's Fairy Tail versus Sabertooth! The best guild in Fiore once again, versus the guild who was the greatest last year! The match is Natsu and Erza versus Sting and Lucy!"

Upon hearing their names be announced, along with the names of their opponents, Lucy and Sting happily smiled at each other while also looking determined to win. Lucy had been reading the new spells of Heavenly Body Magic, so she easily memorized them all well enough to test them out in this battle and she took her spell book with her. After all, if one type of magic ran out, another type could end up being pretty useful against someone who was as powerful as the mighty knight known as Erza Scarlet.

This battle meant everything to Lucy, and the time had finally arrived. Would she able to gain a victory for her guild of the present and future, and defeat the dense idiot from her past? Could she also manage to defeat his scarlet-haired companion, the same person who could rival Kagura in terms of swordsmanship? Had she finally become a stronger person, the exact opposite of her past self? She walked down the dark hallway with Sting while holding his right hand in her left hand, and the light leading into the battlefield came closer into view.

"_All right, this is it! This is finally the moment where Sting and I show off our chemistry, our bond, the results of all our training, and we'll teach Natsu and Lisanna a lesson or two while we're at it!"_ She thought while fierceness found its way into her cocoa brown eyes and light began to shine on her beautiful blonde hair. When everyone saw the four mages come out on to the battlefield, roars and cheers shook the stadium. Lisanna and Cana were cheering for Sabertooth, being Lucy's friends and disliking Natsu, despite the fact that they were in Fairy Tail.

Sting and Lucy could only harshly glare at Natsu and Erza, obviously having their motives for wanting to win this match. They made eye contact with each other for a few seconds, having the loving bond to communicate fast and effectively form a beginning strategy. The wind blew through the stadium, as everyone could feel the sudden tension in the air. Clearly, these two teams had some conflicts that needed to be resolved in some way. Lucy and Erza were definitely friends, but that did not mean that they would go easy on each other.

"You're about to lose again, Sting." Natsu said coldly, as he glared back at the white dragon slayer.

"It looks like you now wield a pink book of spells, Lucy. I don't know what kind of techniques you have now, but come at me seriously with everything you have." Erza told her friend in a calm manner, smiling confidently while wanting to see Lucy give it her all in a fight like this.

When Mato allowed the match to begin, the Fairy Tail mages were astounded to see that the Sabertooth duo had suddenly vanished from the spots where they had been standing. Natsu and Erza both widened their eyes in shock, as Sting and Lucy immediately appeared in front of them and both started off the match with punches to their opponents' faces. Natsu and Erza were sent sliding backwards, the latter quickly requipping into her Black Wing Armor with a sword in each hand, and the scarlet-haired mage decided to really get this battle started.

She flew down towards Lucy, attempting to strike her with powerful attacks and confound the blonde mage with her impressive speed, but Lucy smiled at the sight of this. She quickly used her non-spell ability of Earth Magic, getting some sand in her right hand before turning it into a solid rock, and then she followed up with her non-spell ability of Heavenly Body Magic. She threw the rock high into the air where it became surrounded by a pink aura, and the rock quickly came down in the form of a meteorite! It struck the spot where Erza had once stood, creating a pink blast of Heavenly Body Magic, and the crowd looked surprised.

Erza wondered what had happened, realizing that Lucy's meteorite missed its intended target by about two-hundred feet, and she could see that the aftermath of that blast had simply made a crater appear in the sand. While Erza was caught off guard in that one second, Lucy unleashed her first spell of Heavenly Body Magic. It was known as Heavenly Sphere, and it simply made a pink sphere appear in the palm of her right hand. Lucy threw it towards Erza, missing her by a few inches, but that was actually Lucy's intention. What kind of trick did she have up her sleeve?

Another pink blast of Heavenly Body Magic transpired, this time in midair, and Erza screamed in pain while she was taking damage from the spell destroying the space around it. She was in its radius, taking damage from the attack, and Erza flew down to the ground while requipping into her Heaven's Wheel Armor. She looked at her two swords, seeing that Lucy's spell of distorting space had twisted up her swords so much, and the scarlet-haired mage requipped those out for two new ones that looked much heavier with the power to slash through iron.

She charged at Lucy, seeing that distance attacks were possibly not her specialty at all, but Natsu and Sting got in the way while delivering punches of fire and light to each other's faces. Erza couldn't stop in time, and she had almost stabbed Sting with one of her swords. Not seeing that as a total accident, Lucy narrowed her cocoa brown eyes at her scarlet-haired friend while she called upon the second spell. It was known as Heavenly Wave, and this spell caused Lucy to shoot out a pink heart-shaped beam of energy from her mouth. It grew larger with distance, since she had leaped away from the situation, and Sting had gotten out of the way of Lucy's attack while he pulled Natsu into its path. The fire dragon slayer was struck directly, being slammed into Erza, and they were both slammed against the wall while a large pink blast of energy occurred once again.

However, Lucy and Sting both looked serious while knowing that their opponents were durable. Natsu only had a few minor bruises, and Erza had requipped into her Purgatory Armor to defend against Lucy's strong attack. Natsu and Erza both looked at each other while nodding, quickly moving to take their opponents on alone, and Natsu decided to attack Lucy this time. He fiercely glared at her while swinging punches at her with flames engulfing his fists, and Natsu looked even more pissed off by the fact that Lucy was dodging each of his moves with ease. She could easily read his movements, knowing that his style of attack was far too direct, and Lucy delivered a kick to his face while sneakily picking up some sand in her right hand.

She slammed it all into Natsu's eyes and poked them a few times, making him scream in pain while the audience laughed at such a comical trick, and Lucy read the third spell in the pink book. It was known as Cosmic Shield, and this spell was perfect. Natsu angrily growled in frustration, seeing that close-range attacks would not work on the blonde mage, and he leaped back before jumping high into the skies above the Domus Flau. He unleashed Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame. He created a large fireball in his hands, making it grow large enough before throwing it down at Lucy, but she smiled at the sight of her large star-shaped shield floating into the air to absorb the impact of the fireball while Natsu came back down to the ground.

The fireball was reflected back into outer space in the form of a large pink beam of Heavenly Body Magic, and it quickly exploded while its side effect was coming down on the battlefield in the form of many meteors. Cosmic Shield could reflect projectiles back at anything, and the side effect of this spell turned the projectiles into pink meteor-shaped projectiles of Heavenly Body Magic. They came down on the battlefield, making numerous pink explosions occur, and one meteor even sent Erza and Sting flying away from each other while they had been locked in hand-to-hand combat. The crowd gasped in awe, seeing this as a pretty real battle going on here.

"Well, look what we have here. It looks like the shitty little weak-ass loser can actually do something. Those spells of yours sure know how to think outside the box, Lucy, but all of that smart creativity won't help you now!" Natsu shouted at her while looking furious, the smoke clearing up quickly to reveal that he had very bruised up by that powerful barrage of meteors, but he kept putting his pride and arrogant attitude over the fact that her creativity with those spells was what had helped her become stronger. After all, Natsu still did not know that a powerful person like Shelly had replaced him as Lucy's main rival.

Natsu looked over at Sting to see that Erza kept him occupied while requipping into her Black Wing Armor again while he unleashed his White Dragon's Roar into the air to strike her down while she was flying around, and the fire dragon slayer saw this as the perfect chance to try and strike Lucy with his Fire Dragon's Roar. He unleashed a large vortex of fire from his mouth, attempting to burn Lucy to a crisp, but she used her non-spell ability of Fire Magic to inhale all of his flames to replenish most of her magical power. Wow, now wasn't that a real slap in the face to him once again?

Lucy responded sternly, really hating the fact that Natsu was underestimating her once again, "It seems that you and your stupid brain just can't realize that I'm not the same girl that can be pushed around, Natsu. I am much stronger than I was in Fairy Tail, and you're about to go down! Prepare to see another one of my new moves, since it will shut you up! I call upon thee, the fourth spell of Heavenly Body Magic, Spacial Wrath!"

This spell caused the seven clouds in the blue sky to become pink, and they unleashed eight pink beams that came down in a curved trajectory to strike their target. The beams were spiraling at high speeds while moving fast to strike their target, and this spell gave Lucy an interesting ability. In a very surprising twist, this move made her brown eyes become light pink while they glowed with power. She could now distort or change the space around her with a single blink of her eyes, and something had told her to not end this with Natsu so soon. She blinked her pink eyes once, making Erza switch places with him, and she gasped in shock while the pink beams of Heavenly Body Magic struck her directly.

A massive pink blast of spacial energy filled the Domus Flau, its power only concentrated on the center where Erza was located, and Sting used this moment to eat the light from Lucy's blast. He simply opened his mouth to consume it, smiling about how it tasted so good, and the light quickly faded away to show everyone in the Domus Flau that Erza had managed to survive by requipping into her Adamantine Armor at the last second. She stood in an extremely large crater, wincing in pain from the spacial distortion breaking her armor apart, and the scarlet-haired mage only had enough power left to requip back into her Heart Kreuz Armor.

From here on out, Natsu would have to fight by himself. Erza knew that none of her other armors or swords could stand up to the power of that eighth spell, and she wondered if Lucy really had been on a whole new level. While the blonde mage panted heavily, seeming exhausted from using her four spells of Heavenly Body Magic, her pink spell book began to pulsate with a bright glow to signify that some more spells had been written. Lucy used the non-spell ability of Wind Magic to inhale some air, giving herself more breath, and she had regained a large amount of magical power.

During this little break that she was taking, however, Natsu had decided to make flames engulf his fists while he ran towards Lucy. The fire dragon slayer was planning to end this battle right now, not wanting to lose against a girl who he had seen as weak, and Natsu was about to brutally punch his ex in the face! However, Lucy had quickly activated the fifth spell of Heavenly Body Magic to stop Natsu in his tracks. This spell was known as Heavenly Slice, and it caused the fingernails on Lucy's hands to grow long and pink. They had grown in length to be reaching about at least five inches while being sharp, and something interested happened. When she slashed at Natsu, even though she struck to early for her nails to make direct contact, a pink blast of energy transpired in front of her like she had sliced the space between herself and Natsu. Her nails turned back to normal, however, since this spell had a time limit of thirty seconds.

The blast had pushed Natsu backwards, making him roll across the ground, and he looked pretty miffed while unleashing many small fireballs from her mouth. He had hoped that they would set Lucy and the book on fire, reducing them both to a pile of ash, but the blonde girl looked confident while using the sixth spell in the pink spell book. It was known as Heavenly Barrier, and this spell caused Lucy to spin around at an extremely fast pace. Many pink star-shaped projectiles floated around Lucy in a circle, spreading out to widen their defensive radius upon her command, and the pink stars would all explode in miniature pink blasts when even one was hit. The wider the radius, the larger the blasts. It was quite useful on distant foes, since the blast could even be warped to hit a faraway foe. Some of them had even struck Natsu, making him scream in pain while the immense amount of damage began to show on his bruised body.

Her seventh spell was known as Spacial Saint, and it caused a pink beam of Heavenly Body Magic to come down from the heavens and hit Lucy. This beam had not hurt her at all, but it made her become extremely durable while healing her completely and boosting the power of her attacks with every blast that she would create afterwards. It was quite useful in conjunction with the first two spells, since its side effect enhanced everything. She was able to move much faster, as she was able to punch Natsu in the face at fast speeds, and Lucy had even planned out her finishing move while she kicked Natsu up into the air.

For her finishing move, Lucy's final spell of Heavenly Body Magic was known as Spacial Shooting Stars. It caused Lucy to be able to move at high speeds, and she could also jump high into the air like Jellal Fernandes when he used the Meteor spell. The pink spell book had let her know that this spell interestingly required Magic Circles to be drawn, similar to when Jellal used Grand Chariot, and Lucy had drawn the shape of a star while putting Magic Circles on the five points of the pink star. Many small pink meteors rained down from the sky, making many pink explosions when they all honed in on Natsu, and every explosion was larger than the last one. The final explosion had made a large pink light blind everyone's eyes while a large gale blew through the arena, as the ground cracked apart, and the outcome was clear.

When the large amount of light faded away, as the smoke began to clear up, Sting could only look utterly awestruck by the power of that last spell. He had never thought that Lucy could use a spell that was about to break the arena into pieces, even though Mato used his magic to quickly repair the damaged battlefield, and Sting ran towards the center of the Domus Flau to catch his girlfriend while she was falling from the sky. Lucy had really gone all-out against Natsu, wanting to show him that she was not weaker than him, and the fire dragon slayer was unconscious while he laid on the ground. He was battered and bloodied, especially since that cosmic move was catastrophic because of the Spacial Saint spell enhancing it to very dangerous levels of power.

"Well, it looks like this match has a clear winner. Through such fierce determination, willpower, magic, and clever tactics, Lucy Heartfilia has won this battle for Team Sabertooth. She helped you defeat Natsu and Erza, Sting, and my blonde rival did exactly what I hoped for her to do. Lucy has become stronger, I must admit, and she still has the potential to become a malicious elite member of Aqua Kyogre." Shelly told Sting in a rather stern manner, as she had felt unimpressed by Lucy not wanting to kill Natsu in front of everyone.

Sting replied in a calm manner while he looked up at the stern woman who made a black bubble of dark magic surround Lucy's book for a few moments, "Don't worry about the fact that Lucy isn't a member of your guild, Shelly. If I were you, I'd take this little piece of advice. You seem to be knowing a lot about Lucy's book, especially since you said that she's done what you want her to do. I have no idea about what your plan is, but at least Sabertooth got 10 more points. Lucy and I will challenge you one day, so be ready.

As the white dragon slayer walked off the battlefield with his sweet lover in his arms, only wanting her to regain her strength while the confetti down and the crowd cheered wildly, Shelly snapped two fingers on her left hand to pop to black bubble that she shot from her left hand. Now that she had given Lucy the magic that represented her nature, Shelly giggled evilly while knowing that her badness would definitely make Lucy join Aqua Kyogre. After all, that guild needed the book on their side. Plus, the implosion of Fairy Tail was something that Shelly could party about when Marina would make Natsu's rep go so low because of his sexual desire being so high.

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><p><strong>How was the 21st chapter? Did you like it? Sorry for the changing the plot a bit, but some things will happen later than others. I also hope that you're enjoying the StiCy chemistry that's going on, too. Natsu and Lisanna's party will finally occur in the next chapter, too! Anyway, what will happen on the break day in the Grand Magic Games? Who will be exploding with fun while others implode with glum? Will Natsu and Lisanna's video of love take a horrible turn? What crucial info does Erza find out? Will Lucy and Shelly finally get to bond over something? Standby for the update! <strong>


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 22: Lights, Lemons, and Lies<strong>

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><p>Sting and Lucy were now at a cafe, starting their mornings off with two hot cups of sugary white coffee, and today was the fifth day of the Grand Magic Games. It wasn't exactly the final day that involved a survival tournament with all five members competing, and today was actually a day for all of the teams to take a well-deserved break. Some of them certainly needed it, with their low scores from the previous four days, and they would be able to use this precious time to prepare for when the final battles would begin. After all, tomorrow was the last chance for the teams to get points.<p>

The tag-team battle involving Sabertooth and Fairy Tail had been the most talked about battle by everyone in Crocus, and people who were viewing the Grand Magic Games on their televisions were also bringing the most views to that battle alone. After it had ended, Sting had been signing many autographs for all of his fan girls. They thought that he still looked hot, even when he had to stern with Shelly about protecting his sweet girlfriend from her rival's motives, and they had also been taking pictures with him because he had really redeemed himself from last year.

The kids were not exactly really understanding about how magic worked, and Lucy let out a sigh of relief at the fact that none of them had asked about why she made an explosive guy like Natsu feel the destructive taste of revenge. She had never liked talking about a dense ex like him, especially since the fire dragon slayer had cheated on her with Lisanna, and Lucy felt happy by the fact that she gave him quite a beating in the tag-team battle yesterday. She was also glad to know that Erza had been beaten down, despite not knowing that the scarlet-haired mage and Gray were also sorry for not telling Lucy about her boyfriend's affair.

She knew that Natsu felt no remorse towards her, mainly since he could've also been bitter about the fact that neither of the teams competing for the guild of Fairy Tail could catch up to Team Aqua Kyogre or Team Sabertooth, and Lucy was trying to get him out of her head. She knew that he was the lesser of her two rivals, since she had a score to settle with Shelly because of the kisses that she gave Sting, and the blonde mage swore that she would take down the black-haired female for trying to use love to get what she wanted. Playing with someone's feelings was certainly dirty, was it not?

The brown-eyed girl still looked somewhat fierce about the fact that Cana had made a horrible apology to her in Mintochoko Town, making Lucy actually feel glad that Shelly and Marina used clever moves with their tactical sense of timing, and she took a sip of her coffee while not even forgetting what she told Shelly. The enemies of her enemies were indeed her friends, meaning that Shelly was on her side when it came to being against Fairy Tail, but Sting had told Lucy that Aqua Kyogre was after the spell book that she was wielding. Shelly did seem to know a lot about the book, like Courtney from Magma Groudon, but what critical info was Shelly keeping from reaching Lucy's ears?

"Are you still worried about the fact that Shelly wanted you to join Aqua Kyogre, Lucy? You'd usually have your hot coffee consumed by now, and it must be cold after not being gulped down after twenty minutes. I'll get you another one, if that'll lighten the mood. Listen, don't worry about what Shelly thinks. She may be strong and tactical, but you can be just as powerful and clever. She may know some secrets about the book, which we really want to find out, but why spoil the fun of getting so much info when you can inform her of how strong you truly are by beating her on the final day?" Sting asked with a concerned look on his face while having a desire to comfort her in his charming blue eyes, not wanting his girlfriend to become doubtful of her abilities because of how her rival easily crushed Team Fairy Tail B in the third tag-team battle.

Lucy responded in a soft voice while looking at Sting, not knowing that her cocoa brown eyes were showing him how uneasy she felt about the fact that a sneaky female like Shelly had asked her to form a truce, "I'm fine, Sting. Really, I am. The fact that Shelly has the nerve to use her kisses as a way of flirting with you just irks me, especially since she is trying to say that she should be my friend because of our mutual dislike for Fairy Tail, and I just hate to see that vixen using her charms on you. Shelly may look sexy, but let's just say that her beauty can't hide the stench that she once let out on Cana."

Sting could tell that Lucy was really trying her best to stay positive, but it was really no surprise that her eyes revealed to him that she was thinking about Shelly. Well, she was the first villain that Lucy had fought after she left the guild of Fairy Tail. The mysterious book had been an item of value, something that was a real rarity with so much power inside of it, so Lucy had to keep it safe. Still, Sting and Lucy both wanted to know why Shelly didn't just simply take it. She had encountered Lucy many times, having many chances to steal the book, but why was she just letting her still have it? If Lucy was in Sabertooth, why did Shelly want her to become part of Aqua Kyogre?

There were many questions that had no answers, making Lucy feel very puzzled about the book and Shelly's motives, so the blonde mage let out a soft sigh while she knew that there was only one way to get some vital info about the book. She would have to go ask Shelly about it, since the two girls did have an alliance going, but was it going to be a good move for Lucy to put her trust in the black-haired woman? Even if Shelly would charge 900,000 jewels for Lucy to know about crucial parts of the spell book, the blonde girl knew that having a talk with her rival would probably get her to back off of Sting as well.

Even if the grunts from Aqua Kyogre would say that Shelly wanted to see Lucy today, since they would probably escort her over there to watch over this little meeting, Lucy knew that she had to know more about the spell book. The pages in it had appeared to possess room for more spells, despite the fact that Lucy still did not have a ninth move for any of the seven types of magic that she wielded, so that also created quite a mystery. If Lucy wanted to get some answers, she simply had to go to Shelly with some important questions. Besides, since everyone was trying to relax today, would it really be hard to find her in Crocus?

While Lucy seemed to be forming a plan in her head, Sting did not want to confront her about anything involving Shelly. He knew that she was already riled up enough by the fact that Shelly had not only kissed him, but she had stripped for him as well while throwing her bra and panties at Lucy. Sting did not want to risk things like paranoia or lust to make his relationship with Lucy fall apart, and he didn't want to fight with her about anything. He was definitely not going to make her feel uncomfortable, and Sting was starting to have a little plan of his own. He had gotten up from his seat to quickly buy another hot cup of white coffee for Lucy, and he ran back to her while placing the hot cup of sugary coffee on the table. He went around to her side, kissing her lips in a romantic manner to get her feeling good again, and Sting broke the kiss after a few moments to walk away to somewhere.

"Where are you going, Sting?" Lucy asked curiously while smiling, blushing happily from the kiss that really snapped her out of her worries for a little bit.

He replied kindly while turning around to her face her, smirking with his usual high amount of confidence shining brightly like his pearly white teeth, "Oh, I just have to go find Rogue and talk to him about a new move that we came up with."

Lucy told Sting that she was very glad that him and Rogue had found the time to create new moves, and she also smiled happily while waving goodbye to her boyfriend as he exited the cafe while he appeared to be walking off to find Rogue somewhere in Crocus. With Sting supposedly having to do something, Lucy knew that there some business that she had a take care of with a certain new friend of hers. Since a dark guild like Aqua Kyogre consisted of mages that used various forms of Water Magic, wouldn't it be a rather smart idea to try looking for Shelly in places where water was abundant?

Shelly did seem to know a lot about magic, making her be seen as an enemy who wielded a vast amount of knowledge, and Lucy wanted to become just as smart as her rival was. Lucy knew that the spells were always created by the mental images that she could conjure up in her mind, making them be very useful with a wide variety of effects, and she knew how to trigger the non-spell abilities of each type of magic. However, that was not even the full extent of what the spell book could do. Asking Shelly about it could result in Lucy being told many lies by the woman with aqua blue eyes, but what did she really have to lose?

Lucy left the cafe quickly, looking left and right to make sure that no one from Team Sabertooth or the Fairy Tail teams was around to distract her from what she had to do. She ran all the way to a different street of Crocus, going to one of the intersections from its southern path as a bird's-eye-view would show from above, and Lucy kept going north while she two female grunts from Aqua Kyogre in the distance. She would ask them to take her to Shelly, thus letting the two rivals have a little meeting. However, unbeknownst to the brown-eyed girl, Sting had been watching her from behind a tree. He lied about the training with Rogue, making an excuse to not seem suspicious, and Sting was secretly going to follow his girlfriend to also see who she would be chatting with.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile...<strong>

The fourth day of the Grand Magic Games had left the guild of Fairy Tail pretty shaken up, since both teams had thought that they would get high scores in the event, and everyone in Fairy Tail had thought that the tag-battles against Aqua Kyogre and Sabertooth would be where those two teams would see devastating breaks in their streaks of success. Gajeel was one of the few people to have guessed that Lucy's level of power was nothing to sneeze at, especially since he could see the tension between her and Shelly on the first day of the tournament, and the iron dragon slayer smirked a bit while he could definitely tell that Natsu was now a pseudo-rival to Lucy.

She had defeated him with only four spells, the standard amount that would set a fight to a normal level of difficulty, but the explosive power of Lucy's moves and the various effects of her spells had raised the bar to a hard level of difficulty for Natsu and Erza. No one had really expected her to use Heavenly Body Magic, a type of magic that she had not even tested out before the fight, and Lucy really knew how to analyze new things in a quick manner while using her analytic abilities of the astral stars to her advantage. Really, who could've thought that a Celestial Spirit Mage would use the powers of the celestial cosmos in ways that were pretty big like the power of a supernova?

Cana and Mira were still recovering from the pain that Shelly had inflicted on them, since she mainly needed Marina to simply assist her in the battle, and that icy blast had made the card mage groan in pain while she looked upset by Team Fairy Tail B's loss. Shelly was totally merciless in that battle, since she deliberately used the abnormal ice as a trick for Cana to predictably try and use Fire Magic on it, and the brown-haired woman saw this as payback for what happened in Mintochoko Town. At least the explosive smoke didn't smell bad like when Shelly unleashed her large flatulence on Cana, so that was somewhat of a relief.

Mirajane and Erza had both been bandaged up heavily after their respective battles, both girls sitting at tables while feeling searing pain from yesterday, and let's just say that Mira wouldn't be flying in the air anytime soon. It wasn't her fault that she let Marina attack her first, as a way to see what she could do, and it was not fun to be struck with a vortex of scalding hot water. It had made severe burns appear on her body, even though Wendy and Chelia had still been kind enough to stop by the infirmary and heal them completely, and the white-haired woman had her head down while knowing that those people from Aqua Kyogre were pretty serious about being sadistic jerks.

Erza had never imagined that Lucy's spells could be so dangerous, especially since they could explode while distorting space in the process, and the scarlet-haired woman could tell that Lucy had been close to having the intent to kill. She had still not forgiven anybody for what had happened in Fairy Tail, since they had all decided to make her be Natsu's pawn in his game of having an affair, and Erza knew that giving an apology while doing something to make up for Lucy's heartbreak would be the best way to make her not see her old friends as only heartless enemies. Was it too late to get back any friendship from Lucy, though?

Gray suddenly spoke up with a calm look on his face, feeling pretty glad that today was just a break day, "It's not a big surprise that Lucy wanted to go all out against you and Natsu, Erza, but it looks like Shelly from Aqua Kyogre is much stronger. I ran into Wendy yesterday, and she told me all about how Shelly and Lucy have a pretty big rivalry. I guess they were both disappointed to not be facing each other, so they directed their mutual anger towards us. Anyway, at least Natsu and Lisanna can finally have their seven-month anniversary tonight. Then, Natsu will finally shut up about it like how he was silenced and weird in his fight with Marina."

As the ice mage walked away from Erza's table, the scarlet-haired mage quickly replied in a stern manner while finding the last part of his last sentence to be interesting, "Come to think of it, Natsu has been acting pretty strange ever since he fought that girl. I don't know if he was just shocked from seeing her in Aqua Kyogre like the rest of us, but he seemed to be in love with her. He can't possibly be dumb enough to cheat twice, especially since a dark guild like Aqua Kyogre wouldn't want their evil members dating one of us, so I don't know why or where Natsu disappears to after the tournament every day. He comes back on time, but I can hear him in his suite at night."

When the black-haired male asked his friend about the sounds that she could hear from her room near Natsu's suite, the response that Gray received was something that he really could not believe. Erza told him how she would have to get up from her bed to go sleep in the room that Mira shared with Cana on the third floor, mainly because of the fact that she would hear Natsu's bed rocking while he would be moaning in pleasure. She could hear a female's voice as well, suspecting the person in bed with Natsu to be Marina, but she still refused to check because she did not want to see Marina's big orgasm that probably came with her loud moans that ended every single session.

Erza thought that it was very wrong for Natsu to be putting himself inside of Marina like that, since she knew that Lisanna was already his mistress from the fact that he had cheated on Lucy to be with the white-haired mage, and she also saw it as a total act of betrayal for him to be seeing the enemy in secrecy like that. Really, Natsu was definitely not a faithful guy or a true team player. Erza knew that he was not exactly the brightest guy in the whole country of Fiore, and she even thought that Marina had been getting him to leak all of Fairy Tail's weaknesses to her. That kind of info would be good for Aqua Kyogre, especially since the survival tournament transpired tomorrow.

Gray felt like getting some answers out of Natsu, looking very wary about the possibility of the fact that there was something fishy going on, and the ice mage's mind went back to the first day of the Grand Magic Games. His routine with the ice for the appealing event should've had no flaws, but something had made it fall apart. Gray had never thought of sabotage playing a role in his loss, even though no one in Aqua Kyogre had to ability to nullify an opponent's magic, but the ice mage still wanted to confront Natsu about this. Before he could leave the inn, however, Erza told him that Natsu and Lisanna went out to do some shopping and have fun while Marina planned their party.

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><p><strong>Elsewhere, at a bathhouse...<strong>

When Lucy had met up with the two female grunts from Aqua Kyogre, they smirked at her in a delighted manner like they had been expecting the blonde mage to cross their path at some point in the day. They used their Water Magic to create a large puddle on the sidewalk, before pushing Lucy down into it, and the grunts jumped into the warping puddle while knowing that it led straight to where Shelly was located. It seemed like Lucy would not have to arrange a meeting with Shelly, since it seemed like the seductive woman wanted to meet with her today.

The puddle had taken Lucy to a pink fitting room in the bathhouse that was in Crocus, with the two grunts rising out of the puddle to greet the girl that their commander needed to see, and they told Lucy to simply get ready to have a bath. The blonde girl blushed while taking off her clothes, never having stripped nude in front of people who were watching to make sure that she didn't have any wires or earpieces hidden on any part of her body, but it wasn't that bad. Not only had Sting seen Lucy naked when they went to bed together, but Lucy and Yukino had even seen each other naked when they were changing their clothes.

There was no need for her to be afraid of the two grunts, even though they gave off the impression that they were villains, and the one with brown hair styled like Yukino's had smirked a bit while gently caressing Lucy's left cheek to calm her down. The other girl with light green hair styled like Lisanna's had simply rubbed Lucy's legs in a sultry manner to make her gasp a bit, loving how the grunts were being so very soft with her delicate body, and the two women escorted the brown-eyed girl down the hallway towards the hot spring where the meeting would be taking place. (This chapter has a few sexy moments in it, and it was made to balance the drama with some romance.)

Lucy was intent on finding out the secrets of the spell book, being pretty curious about the fact that it had now turned black like shadows, and she hoped to get many answers out of Shelly. It was weird to have an alliance with the person who kept on trying to be sexy for Sting, even though Shelly's charms were always getting repelled by the white dragon slayer, but Lucy knew that this truce was only made to prevent Fairy Tail from winning the Grand Magic Games. Besides, if Lucy were to anger Shelly in any way, she might end up receiving a harsh kick into the ground like Mira did. That definitely had to hurt, too.

As the sliding door came into view, the grunt who resembled Yukino had opened it for Lucy. She let the sunlight shine brightly on to the blonde mage's body, making her eyes be blinded by the light, and Lucy fell into the hot water of the hot spring. She made a bit of a splash, causing Shelly to laugh while she knew that her rival was clumsy, and the black-haired woman could see Lucy going underwater while she was also getting used to the fact that Shelly used her Water Magic to make the temperature of the water be hotter than it normally was. She had even made it feel so relaxing to Lucy's skin, since Shelly made the water become soapy as well to comfort her guest.

"Hello, Lucy. I trust that my two grunts treated you nicely, and I think that you can tell that requesting your presence was on my list of things to do today. Enjoy the bath as well, and we can chat while relaxing in the hot spring. After all, we're two rivals that fight so much and need to have a little bit of a talk with each other. Lucy, I want to know if you'll ever feel interested in having Sabertooth join forces with Aqua Kyogre when the book is in our possession." Shelly told Lucy in a calm manner while smiling a bit, as she wore her pink lacy bra and lacy pink panties to show off her beauty.

The blonde girl rose up to the surface, only to blush a light shade of pink when she found her face to be in front of Shelly's large breasts, and she replied in a stern manner, "There's no way that a light guild would ever team up with a dark guild, and Sting would make sure that I don't join up with you guys! Besides, I only came here to get answers about the book because you know so much about it. All I want to know about the book is its secrets, the critical pieces of info that I'll need for me to be as strong as you are. Just tell me what you know about this book, and I'll be ready for when you try to steal it."

Upon hearing Lucy say that they weren't on the same level of strength, Shelly giggled a bit while she was glad to hear those words come out of her rival's mouth. She was glad to know that Lucy was weaker than her, even if she already believed that, and Shelly simply told Lucy that the book had turned black because she wanted her blonde rival to use the spells that would make her become more like a true mage with power. Shelly told Lucy how her anger towards Natsu had indeed been displayed, but her true rage had to be unleashed for her to feel the delicious power of darkness.

It wasn't going to be a demonic kind of dark power that was in the book, but this darkness would make Lucy be able to have the power that she desired. Shelly told the brown-eyed girl that she could sense the rage in her heart, and it was only natural because of how Fairy Tail had treated Lucy like dirt. She had every right to feel hatred towards Natsu, but Lucy never had the instincts to ever actually kill him. She could never bring herself to go that far, and the Grand Magic Games also strictly enforced the rule of fatal force not being permitted in events or battles. Aqua Kyogre was quite lucky that they were just messing with people in fights, right?

Shelly proceeded to push her breasts against Lucy's back, no longer using the washcloth, and she let her hands rub the blond mage's neck while letting her know that her level of hate towards Fairy Tail just wasn't strong enough. She had to actually hate her former friends, make them feel the pain of how they had made her feel so hurt by supporting Natsu's affair, and then her hatred would increase. Shelly told Lucy that the book could react in her favor towards feelings of malice, which would darken and increase the spells, and mastering all eight types of magic would allow her to be opened up to a new stage in the book.

This stage was known as the "Intermediate Level", and it simply involved the user making the final eight spells for every type of magic. Now that was not as easy as it seemed to be, since the level of power required for each spell would grow in the ascending order, and the ninth spells would probably make the eighth spells look weak. Despite that drawback, Shelly also told Lucy that there were dormant abilities in some of her Celestial Spirits. After all of the eight black spells had been learned, the book would allow "evolution" to transpire. That would make Lucy's spells, as well as her spirits, evolve to higher levels of power.

Shelly had let Lucy know that she could also merge two or more of her moves together, which would create devastating spells that would probably break any Magic Power Finder, but merging spells or even using two spells together was for advanced mages who could control the flow of their magical power in a skilled manner. Shelly let Lucy know that she was capable of that, meaning that she had just been going easy on the blonde girl in their past few battles, and that made Lucy realize her toughness while she also came to realize that taking on Shelly in a truly real battle would also be difficult.

As Lucy turned around to face her rival, her fists clenched tightly while she spoke in a calm manner, "You may be seductive and sadistic, Shelly, but I think that talking with you has really given me a reason to be colder towards my old friends. I haven't been using all of my power against them, especially since I haven't even tried to choke Natsu at any point in this tournament, but I'll show him what a merciless person I can be. The fact that he still survived is a reason for me to feel frustrated, and I will use my new powers to take him down. After I take him down, I'll fight you!"

The tanned woman responded in a cocky manner while wrapping her arms around Lucy's waist, grinning evilly as they were now closer together to where a soft breath from one girl could reach the other's lips, "I would love to see you try and win against me, my little Lucy, but you're still weaker than me. In fact, you can't even keep me from kissing Sting's soft lips. He has yet to kiss back, but his mind will never forget the time when he saw me nude. Maybe you should become my apprentice when it comes to flirting, or you could become a double agent for Aqua Kyogre like how Marina is doing."

From hearing Shelly suggest Lucy to be her apprentice, the blonde mage shuddered at the thought of the females in the dark guild going through training that was deadly like Minerva in the Naval Battle. Shelly was the top commander in that dark guild, and there probably was no room for slackers. Lucy also was surprised at the fact that her greatest rival was wanting her to make Sabertooth merge with Aqua Kyogre, thinking that no one would agree to something like that, and how come no one seemed concerned that this guild was in the tournament? Unpopularity seemed to have many perks in life, as it seemed in this case.

With the serious part of their meeting now over, Lucy and Shelly both sighed happily while the feeling of the hot water had finally made them feel really relaxed. The blonde mage was released from her rival's grasp, simply feeling Shelly about get out of the hot spring while she turned around, and Lucy accidentally felt her left hand brush against Shelly's large rear. The tanned woman giggled while knowing that everyone liked her nice buns, and she smirked a bit as she could guess that Lucy was wondering how to get her butt bigger for Sting. As fun as that sounded, Shelly knew that she outmatched Lucy in sexiness and strength.

Speaking of Sting, he had actually been listening in on their whole conversation from the fence that was behind the outdoor hot spring. He had not peeped on the girls at any point, knowing that Shelly and Lucy might end up having a cat fight over him, and all that he really could do was have a nosebleed when he had initially seen Lucy be naked while she stepped into the hot spring. He had taken up some of the puddle from the sidewalk into his hand, making it obey his command now, so that's how he told the water to take him near Lucy's location. The water in this story could cause all sorts of crazy stuff to happen, right?

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><p><strong>Later that night, at Bar Sun...<strong>

In order to get everyone in Crocus aware of his seven-month anniversary with Lisanna, Natsu had been flamboyant enough to tell Marina that he wanted many Lacrima Vision screens to be over the city. This was going to be a televised event, thanks to Marina buying many Lacrima Vision Crystals and placing them in different areas of Crocus, but would it all backfire on Natsu now? After all, some people did tend to get nervous when things were being seen by many citizens of a large city. Some residents had even thought that a famous singer would be performing, as they saw the screens fill the sky.

Natsu and Lisanna had gone out shopping together for the appetizers, mainly the cheeseburgers and bottles of Cola that were perfect for a seven-month anniversary party, and Marina had promised to get the red velvet cake that the fire dragon slayer had wanted for this party. It was red and white, symbolizing Natsu's Fire Magic with the color of Lisanna's hair, and Natsu had even gotten hot dogs, french fries, chicken tenders, fish sticks, steaks, chicken nuggets, and a plate of lobster to complete the collection appetizers that would be on long tables near the two windows of the bar.

Everyone who was currently a part of the Fairy Tail guild had sat at one of the round tables in Bar Sun, and there was also a projector atop the table where the cake was located. It was at the front of the bar, to be more precise, and let's just say that there was a certain Lacrima Surveillance Crystal inside of the projector. Marina had used her Water Magic to link all of the crystal balls together for them to show the same footage, and it would really make this party have a nice little surprise. There was also no music in the bar, meaning that whatever was heard tonight would not be drowned out in any way.

Gray and Erza both looked worried for Lisanna, since she had been paranoid about Natsu without finding any actual proof to show other people, and both of the mages knew that this would not be a good night at all. They could see the white-haired mage sitting down at a table, smiling a bit while Natsu cut a large slice of cake for her, and she was ready to taste the cake that the happy couple would be eating. Even though Lucy wasn't around to puke on the cake, it would still taste pretty bad after something that would muck up Natsu's happy night.

People had just been chatting among themselves while they ate food and drank cola, mainly since every single keg of booze for the party had been consumed by Cana, and Erza looked stern while noticing that Marina was not present at this party. Normally, the planner of a special event would stick around to get thanks and be credited for helping out with something that was important. However, she did not even bother to attend the party. Maybe Aqua Kyogre had a party of their own going on, and the traitor decided to hang with them. Even though Erza was suspicious, she still knew that a traitor would only bring drama to the party.

"That flaming idiot decided to plan some big party, but there's no music or anything really big going on? Wow, this is a really cruddy party. Erza, I honestly think that guy made his entire budget for this party go to those Lacrima Vision screens in the sky. No one really needs to see a party for the guild in third place, since people keep going wild over Aqua Kyogre and Sabertooth. Besides, we don't even have a good bar for parties like those two guilds because the sponsors give all of the fancy stuff to the teams doing really well in the tournament." Gray told Erza in a bored manner while thinking that even Lucy puking on the cake would make this party seem more exciting.

Natsu shouted angrily while his enhanced hearing picked up on Gray's words, "Shut up, stripper! It's not entirely my fault that Fairy Tail's teams have been messing up this time, and maybe we'd be in second if you hadn't messed up in the first event like a total douche! Also, if you hate this party so much, then go hang out with idiots like Lucy and that smug jerk named Sting! Maybe they won't bash on you, but don't bash on my anniversary night with Lisanna! Things have been going really good so far, and I don't see anything that can ruin our night! In fact, I'll make you wish you were in my shoes right now! You're about to see how I feel about Lisanna!"

The fire dragon slayer got up from his seat to turn on the projector that had a Lacrima Surveillance Crystal inside of it, and Natsu thought that this footage would be the stuff to make Gray shut his critical mouth. He was supposedly going to see all the tender and loving moments between Natsu and Lisanna, getting to witness many of their happy times, and Natsu knew that Gray did not have a love interest. He even found the ice mage to have bad taste by caring for Lucy, but at least Gray could play a good social game. As Natsu pressed the red button on the projector, he would soon find out that it was not smart to play footage without checking the crystal's contents.

A large rectangle of light appeared on the wall, allowing everyone to see the scenes of what Natsu had been doing, and the film had been titled _"My Love and Thrust". _Some people thought that Natsu had spelled "trust" wrong, knowing how dumb he could be at times, but Natsu thought that he was smart when he turned around while smirking in a cocky manner at Gray. He walked over to the ice mage in an attempt to belittle him, having his back turned to the screen while it moved to the first scene, and Gray immediately dropped his jaw from what he was seeing. Natsu looked curious about why his rival looked so shocked, despite not even being insulted yet, and the fire dragon slayer turned to the screen to see that his relationship with Lisanna was now going to end.

Everyone looked shocked from seeing Natsu naked in his suite, seeing him on top of Marina in bed, and the pink-haired male had kissed her lips while she kicked the white bed sheets off of the bed. She was blushing a light shade of pink while breaking the kiss, breathing in a slow rhythm while Natsu put his cock inside of her womanhood, and he moaned in bliss while feeling it get erect from how Marina was so tight. She relaxed herself on the bed, biting her lip while his cock went down into her, and Natsu began to thrust into her while looking pretty happy to be with his new mistress.

Marina elicited a soft moan as she could feel his tongue licking her left nipple, getting it wet and erect, so she moved her breasts up and down to match Natsu's thrusts. He had made his left hand rub her left breast in an affectionate manner, feeling how her flesh was so delicate and soft, and he pulled his cock out of her before ramming it back inside of her vagina. She screamed in pain from his hard thrust, not thinking that he would be so rough with his cock this time, and Marina used her Water Magic to produce the wetness for her orgasm. Her cum was building up from inside of her, feeling hot while Natsu's cock throbbed, but she planned to save it for now.

"You're so nice and tight, Marina. I feel so good inside of you, and I want to cum inside of you every day. The sex that we have is so great, and I love having you as my mistress. I can feel your hot juices, and I'm fired up enough to cum with you!" Natsu told her in a lustful tone while smiling, as he began to sweat from the heat that him and his mistress were creating, and he had let his large cock brush against her wet walls.

The teal-haired girl replied softly, blushing with joy as she could feel his erect cock going deeper into her body, "Ahhhhhhh... Natsu, I can feel a nice orgasm building up inside of me. Keep thrusting hard into my body, my fiery dragon slayer, and hit every area that you'd like. I'll even let you fill me up to where our love will be pouring out of me."

Natsu pushed himself past one of her thick walls, making Marina move her hips in a slow motion while she tried to stay relaxed, and her lover began to push further to reach her womb. He had even let his cock shrink down a bit to pass through each boundary with ease, since he didn't want to damage Marina in any way, and Natsu yelled in pleasure while his cock could feel the large amount of wetness in Marina's womb. He had moved his hands from being on her breasts, and Natsu smirked a bit while he let his fingers dance on her back. The bed creaked with their lovemaking, the hidden camera showing sweat from Natsu's face landing on Marina's breasts, and this scene was very hot.

He kept feeling how wet she was, more wet than Lisanna could ever get in bed, and Natsu couldn't stop his cock from getting erect enough to the point where it seemed stuck inside Marina. He tried pulling it out, something that only made Marina gasp in pleasure when she could feel him going back down into her, and she couldn't hold her orgasm any longer. She released it in Natsu's face, letting out a large amount of hot cum, and the fire dragon slayer had heated himself up to handle the hotness of his lover's juices. His heat and her liquid had created some steam when they met, filling up the room, and Marina's cum had lubed up Natsu's cock enough to where it could slide out of her with ease.

As everyone could now see the two mages sweating and panting, Lisanna could only look like she wanted to scream while she ran to the front of the bar. As the scene changed to where Natsu had made Marina turn over on her stomach, ready to finger her butt, Lisanna turned off the movie that had made many of the males pass out from nosebleeds. Cana was shocked to see Master Makarov having a nosebleed right now while he hadn't known that the Fairy Tail owned heavenly footage like that, and Laxus had to wonder if Marina was crazy to go with a guy like Natsu.

Natsu was utterly shocked by the fact that the tape did not show his happy moments with Lisanna, instead showing what had been going on during the second night of the Grand Magic Games, and the fire dragon slayer really had to wonder how anyone could secretly film him from inside his suite or even have the tape set to play for five hours? He had clearly seen the time of when Lisanna paused the video, only twenty minutes into it, and even the moments of Marina washing Natsu's body probably would've been too much for her to handle. He had truly cheated on her, giving her the proof that she needed, and the white-haired mage slowly walked towards Natsu while her fists were tightly clenched.

She had a very angry look on her face, so very furious at her boyfriend for having a mistress while he was already in a relationship with a mistress, and the blue-eyed girl made the Animal Soul: Tigress Take-Over only affect her hands to turn them into sharp claws. She angrily slashed at Natsu's chest, screaming his name in a blaze of fury, and Lisanna grabbed him by his neck while throwing him at a window with all of her strength. Natsu was sent crashing through the glass window, before crashing through a few nearby buildings, and he was definitely feeling the pain that he had inflicted on Lisanna.

Mirajane had gotten up from her chair to comfort her distraught sister, never even thinking that Natsu was capable of this, and Gray knew that this drama would result in the implosion of Fairy Tail. He could see that Cana and Juvia were running out of the bar to go find the fire dragon slayer, most likely to beat him up for cheating on Lisanna with Marina, and the ice mage narrowed his dark blue eyes while the pieces began to connect quickly in his mind. Even though Natsu didn't know that the tapes had been messed with, it seemed like Aqua Kyogre did this as a little setup to humiliate an easy target.

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><p>Everyone in Crocus was shocked to see such graphic material on the Lacrima Vision screens, especially Lucy, and the blonde mage had averted her eyes away from the one that was in the bedroom she shared with Sting. Lucy did not want to see such nasty footage while she was trying to sleep in bed, wanting to be ready for the fifth day of the Grand Magic Games, and all that she could really think about was Shelly. Lucy had definitely seen her as a true rival, since she had been kissing Sting, and today's meeting with the tanned woman had made Lucy realize that she had to get on even footing with Shelly.<p>

That may not have been possible to do in one day, especially because of the fact that Shelly was on a much higher level with her magic, and Lucy knew that she would have a pretty big battle with her greatest rival. They were complete opposites, with Lucy wanting to smell good while Shelly had her habit of letting out large farts, and the blonde mage was still surprised that Shelly had been one of the most infamous thieves in Fiore. Even if female mages tried to apprehend her, they never had the magic to get past the flatulence that she would unleash. In fact, Lucy wondered about how she would be able to handle her rival's tricks.

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 22? Did you like it? Sorry if it seemed to be all over the place, but I am finally finished with exams for the semester! Hurrah! The StiCy will be better, but that doesn't mean Aqua Kyogre is done playing dirty! Who does Marina transform into, turning the fairies against one another? Will Lucy and Sting win a few battles? Will Shelly and Lucy have to fight together, in an epic twist? Standby for the update!<strong>


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 23: Shady Schemes, Similar Habits<strong>

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><p>Sting, Lucy, and Lector had gotten breakfast at a waffle shop in Crocus, and all three of them were happily smiling while cutting up their syrup-covered waffles and eating them piece by piece. Today was the sixth and final day of the Grand Magic Games, the day that would decide everything with its survival tournament. Of course, everything leading up to this day was pretty climactic as well. All of the drama that had transpired up to this point would definitely settled here with the winners getting the golden trophy and the losers walking away with nothing, right?<p>

Lucy had been thinking about the stuff that Shelly had told her yesterday, still determined to take down her rival for trying to seduce Sting, and unlocking the book's new powers would help her out with that task. Of course, she had to learn the black spells first. They were from an unknown type of magic that Shelly had planted into the spell book, most likely to help Lucy unlock her hatred, and the blonde girl was intent on testing them out today. She wanted to be on the same level as her rival, even though the tanned woman was more advanced, and Lucy did not want to be taken down easily if they had a battle in the survival tournament.

She was still curious about how to get on Shelly's high level of physical strength, as well as wanting to find a way to counter her large amount of flatulence, and Lucy had even been skeptical about getting past the tanned woman's dense defenses. That water sphere could pretty much negate almost anything, except for when the Aqua Ball had made it implode, but Lucy did not have any many spells that could be variations of Aqua Ball. She sighed in a calm manner while knowing that today would definitely be a challenge, and the blonde mage simply looked at the black book like it was meant to truly troll her sometimes.

Sting and Lector also wondered what was going on with the book, thinking it was not possible for those unreadable spells to ever be read by Lucy, and they both were hoping that the blonde girl would not be scared when she opened the book to use the black spells. Sting had informed his red Exceed about everything that had been happening with him and Lucy lately, making the latter smirk at the fact that Sting was being a good boyfriend to Lucy. Lector also let Sting know that Lucy had been falling for the charms of the white dragon slayer, seeing as she blushed a light shade of pink while putting her left hand on the black book.

Lucy's heart beat with nervousness, feeling a bit fearful about something bad like a demon popping out of the book to try and destroy her, but then she exhaled a breath of air while remembering that Sting was with her. If any monster of any kind came out of the book, Sting and his Holy Nova would definitely put it to rest. Lucy also had to wonder what the ninth spell or any of the new spells could be like, since she had known that many of her attacks came with side effects and drawbacks. What would the book give her, and how dangerous could it possibly be?

When she narrowed her brown eyes, having some courage in them, Lucy read from the first three lines of shining blue text in a calm manner while she had used most of the willpower in her left hand to open the book and overcome her fears, "Welcome, book wielder. Congratulations on now having the eighth type of magic in your arsenal, since mastering this will be the key to reaching the next level in the spell book, and these spells represent your hatred. They will work well with feelings of vengeance, especially when your malice strikes from the shadows. It can even make Celestial Spirits become darker, too, but at a price."

From reading these words, Lucy looked a bit puzzled. The book had simply delivered a message to her, and it seemed to be trying to collaborate with Lucy's Celestial Spirit Keys. She knew that they would get stronger while she got stronger, but how strong had she truly gotten? Lucy would hate to have Aquarius be weak against anybody in the survival tournament today, and she certainly did not want any of her other spirits to be weakened. She could now open five Celestial Spirit gates, but would even five spirits be enough? Also, how could they possibly become dark against their own will?

Sting told Lucy with a kind smile on his face, letting his left hand touch hers while making her feel a bit more relaxed about today, "I think the book is letting you know that your spirits don't all directly work with its powers, but they can. Your Fire Magic can combine with the arrows of Sagittarius to make fiery arrows, and that's pretty cool. By the way, thanks for telling me that you refused Shelly's offer to join Aqua Kyogre. That guild is shady with all of the moves they can pull, but let's show those creeps that they're only second-best when they go up against us."

He let his girlfriend know that Sabertooth would never even think of merging with Aqua Kyogre, especially because of the fact that Shelly worked for a dark guild, and the white dragon slayer hated how Shelly would use her charms to pull him in. He had never loved evil women, knowing that they could be really vicious, and Sting found it weird for Shelly to have allied with Lucy. Even after she had refused the offer, it was like Shelly had other plans in mind. Sting let Lucy know that they would beat Shelly today, and he would make a Holy Nova attack hit her right in the face.

Lucy always felt lifted up by Sting's words of encouragement, ready to beat Shelly with these darker abilities, and she would be teaching a few lessons to her old friends from Fairy Tail while she was at it. Judging by Lucy's big feud with Shelly, it would not be surprising if people got caught in their raging battle. After all, it is a pretty major for a villain to be nude in front of her rival's boyfriend. Lucy was going to show Shelly that she was not a weak little crybaby, even though they did have a warming bond in the hot spring, and this would certainly be a good battle.

Aside from the dark power, however, the other types of magic would still be able to be used by her in many battles. They were the ones who really listened to her, with the sole exception of Darkness Magic, and Lucy simply had to pick one type of magic to be used today. Of course, depending on who she encountered in the battles on this final day, Lucy would have to pick very carefully. One wrong move, and it would be over for her. She had to think smart like Shelly, outwit her enemies with some clever tactics, and that's how the game would be won.

She could only use one type of magic until it completely ran out, meaning that she could not risk fighting with a type of magic to take down Gray Fullbuster while that same kind of magic may be ineffective if Juvia were to come along and join in on the fight. She would have to be extremely careful in a different situation, too. If her Lightning Magic could beat Juvia, it may not be strong enough to defeat someone like Laxus. Type match-ups were crucial in every type of battle, but fights like this with multiple opponents being a possibility was certainly an issue.

Upon seeing the clock on the wall, Lucy's cocoa brown eyes widened in surprise at the current time. It was now 8:30 in the morning, and the survival tournament would begin at 9:00 in the morning. All of the members had to be present in their team's starting area of Crocus before the event could transpire, so Lucy decided to get up out of her chair and start to go out of the restaurant. Sting smiled while following her as well, and he stopped for a second when Lucy's stomach rumbled. She had eaten a stack of six waffles with whip cream, so he could only laugh when she let out a toot. It comically looked like Shelly's villainous ways rubbed off on her, right?

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><p><strong>Meanwhile...<strong>

Natsu could not go buy anything in Crocus without being thrown out of a store or restaurant, mainly because of the fact that all of the townspeople had seen the lewd video that featured the fire dragon slayer getting dirty with Marina, and his friends from the guild of Fairy Tail could also not go shopping if they would bring him along with them. He had really been in a huge mess because of the fact that he tried to have an affair within an affair, something that would inevitably fail for anyone who was foolish enough to do it, and his stupidity really came as a surprise to Lisanna.

She had really thought that he was better than this, since he had once told her that he felt that their bond was good enough for the prospect of love, but it was now clear to Lisanna than Natsu was nothing more than a sleazy jerk who only played with new women when he was tired of the current one he was dating. In fact, the pink-haired male could not even get a hot dog from the vendors that were selling them because they thought he would put the wiener deep inside of Marina before he ate it. He was certainly being the butt of every joke in Crocus, that's for sure.

Most women in the town would throw their purses at him, hating the fire dragon slayer for how he had been so disgusting in that video with Marina, and many people had even thought that he forced her into being with him. She had luckily not gotten pregnant, since having a baby would bring too much drama to Natsu's life, and having to advance far into that stage would just make Lisanna feel even angrier at him. She did not even want to speak with him anymore, feeling that her heart was utterly crushed like when Lucy had been heartbroken because of being cheated on, and karma really did come back around to bite the two current Fairy Tail mages in their butts.

After all, if Natsu had never been sneaking around behind Lucy's back while thinking that she would remain oblivious to his deceitful way, then they would still be together. She would still see him and Lisanna as friends without all of the guild members in Fairy Tail having to go along with the fire dragon slayer's plan, not having so much hatred towards them for putting knives of fake friendships in her back, and that bright situation looked a lot better for Natsu. Sadly, he had screwed up his own dating life by cheating on a great girl and putting his trust in Aqua Kyogre's best master of espionage. The boomerangs of karma were really beating him down, were they not?

As he walked down the path towards the Domus Flau, knowing full well that the people from Team Fairy Tail A and Team Fairy Tail B had left the inn while leaving him behind, Natsu looked a bit happy to see Marina looking out at the calm blue sea with a small smile on her face. She wore a simple blue dress with dark blue high heels while her bra and panties were light blue, but Natsu did not care about what she wore today. He wanted to know if she was suffering like him, going through a vast amount of ridicule for the entire morning, and let's just say that the teal-haired spy for Aqua Kyogre would make Fairy Tail implode even faster than anyone had expected.

"Natsu, I saw the video last night! It's so horrible how that footage had reached the eyes of the public, causing us both to look really steamy in something that was like a porn film, and I'm so sorry for leaving the Lacrima Vision Crystals out in the open while I had to go in the bathroom. I honestly think that the crystals were tampered with by someone in Fairy Tail, since only they could hear us making love in the suite." Marina told him in a very unhappy tone, looking very sorry with regret feinted into her green eyes to make her performance look truly plausible.

As he looked concerned for her while holding her left hand in his right hand, Natsu calmly replied with soft smile of comfort on his face, "Well, I'm just glad that you're doing all right. It's shocking to know that someone messed with the crystals, mostly because they did not want me to be with Lisanna, and I would bet all of my jewels that it was Gajeel. Even though he would never enter my suite for any reason or use a hidden camera for anything that would be dealing with me... Aw, crap. I guess that I'll mark him as innocent, since he'd probably say I embarrass myself all on my own."

Marina let out a soft giggle at how Natsu would find faults with the words that came out of his mouth, clearly not thinking before he spoke, and it was a bit funny for her to see the most hated guy in Crocus having a slight sense of humor. He was so concerned for her well-being, even though she was just using him like a pawn, and Natsu still did not even know that his lover's team had been messing with the fairies throughout the tournament. He truly was blinded by love and lust, even though he could have found happiness with Lisanna, and now his vision of a perfect love had been broken. He thought that he had Marina, but the fire dragon slayer really had nothing.

Upon realizing that Erza would kill him if he was tardy, Natsu gave Marina a kiss on the lips and said goodbye to her. He had sped off towards the arena, knowing that the crowds would hate him in the Domus Flau as well, and that left Marina alone for now. Her soft smile had quickly turned into a scheming look, ready to ensure the success of Shelly's plan for the final day of the Grand Magic Games, and the green-eyed woman was glad to have Fairy Tail's heat on her. This kept suspicion off of Shelly while she would try to work with Sabertooth, and both plans were going pretty great.

Besides, Marina knew that any plans of revenge from Lisanna would come to a halt. She'd really look like a hypocrite, since she had agreed to be the mistress of Natsu in his little scheme to cheat on Lucy, so she could not exactly say that Marina's actions were deplorable without having to look in the mirror. Marina also thought about the idea of Lisanna crying while being on her knees in front of Lucy, but that would be futile because of how the former Fairy Tail mage disliked Lisanna for breaking up her relationship with Natsu. Fairy Tail was definitely starting to implode, and the results of Natsu's cheating had made the stench of betrayal worse than Shelly's flatulence.

With the Grand Magic Games starting soon, Marina decided to run off towards where Team Aqua Kyogre was located. She would certainly be helping her team take down Fairy Tail to wreck their chances of winning, but let's just say that the teal-haired woman thought ahead while she knew that someone had eaten some tainted food last night. She was certainly capable of creating Water Clones, but she could also use water to transform. Well, the person who she would morph into was really going to cause some havoc while being a real traitor. After all that they had done, it was pretty clear that Shelly and her team could use their clean water to create dirty advantages.

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><p><strong>25 minutes later, at a park in Crocus...<strong>

Lucy and Sting arrived at the park to see that their teammates were waiting for them, smiling confidently about wanting to win today. Lucy looked around to see that Yukino was not with Rogue, Rufus, and Orga, and that surprised the blonde mage. She had a strategy that would have involved all of the 12 golden Celestial Spirit Keys, but it looked like that would not happen. Sting let her know that this event would only let five members of a team participate, and that meant Yukino had to watch everything unfold from the sidelines.

She might not be much help, anyway. Libra and Pisces had been easily defeated by Kagura Mikazuchi last year, and even Ophiuchus fell victim to the style of the sheathed sword. That had actually lowered Yukino's confidence in herself, so Lucy would definitely win for her friend. She also had a score to settle with Natsu and Lisanna, since she had never really given punishment to both of them for being the ones responsible for her heartbreak. Lucy wanted to decimate Fairy Tail today, actually feel like she could achieve victory over her ex-boyfriend, and he would no longer be able to say that she was weak or annoy her anymore.

The blonde mage also wanted to win against Fairy Tail for another reason, too. They had Mavis on the sidelines to guide them, and she was an extremely excellent tactician who could figure out the strengths and weaknesses of almost everyone. She had obviously been observing Lucy, seeing everything that she could do, and Lucy knew that she had only used two of her eight positive types of magic. She had not used six of them in this tournament, even though she would try out the darkness that Shelly had given her, and she did not want to reveal her other skills to any enemies.

She also knew that Fairy Tail would be playing smart, too. Erza had informed her about Fairy Tail's strategy last year, and it had started off with Gray taking down Rufus because he was the main piece in Sabertooth's strategy. Gray had beaten Rufus making many weapons of ice at an incredibly high shaping speed, and the Memory-Make mage just could not keep up. He had lost to the ice mage in the library, making him gain one point for Fairy Tail, and Lucy had to wonder if Rufus and the others would truly be okay. After all, she still had her doubts about Shelly's team being on the side of Sabertooth.

After all, she had to worry about her new friends. Orga was instantly taken out by Jura last year, and he did not even have a chance against him. Rogue had easily been taken down by Gajeel, and Sting had surrendered to Fairy Tail after seeing how determined they were to win. If Fairy Tail could have a master strategist, then Lucy could definitely be one. In fact, Fairy Tail had ironically given her a few interesting ideas about what she could do in an event like this. Her spells of Darkness Magic and Heavenly Body were seen already, though, and the dark spells of black magic were still unknown.

Lucy also did not have any new spells that she could use, so surprising enemies would be kind of useless. She would truly have to think in creative ways with those eight black spells, especially since the blonde girl knew that brute force would not be enough to win battles, and Lucy could guess that the other teams would be giving their best efforts on this final day of the Grand Magic Games. It really was no surprise that Sabertooth was keeping first place, since they had been working well as a team, and things were looking good for them right now.

She was also hoping to not run into bad match-ups, knowing full well that the spell book only allowed her to use one type of magic at one time. For example, Fire Magic would work well against mages who used ice like Gray and Lyon. However, Fire Magic would be pretty futile against somebody who manipulated water like Juvia could. Lucy would have to get her opponents by themselves, making these battles be one-on-one for any real chance of success, and she would have to make every shot count while it would also deplete the energy in the type of magic that she was using.

Sting and the others looked concerned for their brown-eyed friend, seeing her tremble with what seemed to be nervousness, and they hoped that Lucy would not crack under pressure. She did not know if winning would be possible against anyone, but Lucy could not let negative thoughts get into her head right now. She began to look determined about winning, refusing to have anyone show her up, and she did not plan to lose today. What would make Lucy end up ultimately winning here, though?

Chapati announced from the judges' booth in the Domus Flau while sounding excited, "Since it's a new year with new things transpiring, here's how this survival game will work! When a member of a team is defeated, their opponent gets five points for their team! When the last person on a team is knocked out, the opponent's team gets 10 points! That totals up to 30 points, meaning that an extremely fast and strong person could earn 210 points overall for their team by defeating everybody else! If you understand all the rules, then let the Grand Magic War Game begin!"

Everyone could only grin in satisfaction at this shocking rule change, and they knew there was more than a slight chance to finally move up from their losses or keep ascending in wins for their respective guilds. Upon hearing the gong be struck for the event to begin, many of the mages began to split up into solos, duos, and trios. The members of Team Sabertooth diverged into five different directions, each person going on their own. Lucy's brown eyes were filled with the determination to win for her new guild, and she was going to do her best.

While Lucy had ran off to the fashion street of Crocus, she did not realize that her large breakfast this morning would come back to haunt her in a strange way. Her stomach rumbled from the waffles that she had eaten, since they had been boosted up with magic to give off more of their flavor, and let's just say that the magical energy was not stable. If the magic in the food had been used to a perfect amount, the person on the end would feel no problems. However, let's just say that a certain black-haired woman from Aqua Kyogre added more magic than necessary to get Lucy to release the massive power of the black spells in a few various ways.

As she let out a soft fart, the blonde mage blushed a light shade of pink while knowing that it was rude to do that in public. She had to wonder how Shelly could just do it without any hesitation at all, simply just letting it all out, and Lucy had to resist the urge of letting out anymore gusts of wind. She was really hoping that Sting or any of the other dragon slayers had not picked up on that sound, and the brown-eyed girl resumed her quest to beat down Shelly or her former friends in Fairy Tail on this final day. Just because she was going to think creatively like Shelly, was the tampered magic making Lucy gain some of her traits as well. (Just so you know, the idea of Shelly having that farting flaw to counter her sexiness was messaged to me by a user on here. It certainly blew you guys away when it first occurred, right?)

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, up in the stands...<strong>

Mavis Vermilion sat on the ledge next to Makarov, looking at all the movements of every participant on the Lacrima Vision screens, and she had been paying special attention to seeing Lucy. She was the one who now wielded the book of spells that had only been spoken of in many legends, becoming a myth after so many centuries when Zeref had came on to the scene, and the First Master recognized that book to be the one rumored to have been created from the Rainbow Wings of a legendary bird named Ho-Oh in the faraway country of Johto.

She had hoped that her prediction would be right on target, though, since she had seen Lucy's spells of Darkness Magic and Heavenly Body Magic be used on the previous days of the tournament. She was hoping that Lucy would either encounter Mirajane or Jellal, both being strong opponents, and they would easily take Lucy out of this event. Mirajane's Darkness Magic was said to be extremely powerful, and Jellal had been one of the Ten Wizard Saints in the year of X784. Either way, they would give Lucy a tough time. Could Lucy outwit them in a battle, though?

The First Master also smiled a bit from knowing that her calculations were rarely ever off, and she had known that her strategy from last year would work once again. She had instructed Gray to fight Rufus, knowing that the ice mage's emotions could outweigh her calculations as he had proven to her last time, and Mavis had confidence in Gray's abilities. She knew that he would not show any fear towards his enemies in this tournament, and neither would any of the other Fairy Tail members. Knowing how Erza pretty much used godly abilities and friendship power to win almost every fight, how could Fairy Tail possibly lose? (Sorry to any fans of Erza, but the way that she wins battles with friendship power and the Talk No Jutsu is really getting old.)

With hope building in her green eyes, Mavis smiled a bit at the sight of someone who appeared to be Lucy on the Lacrima Vision screen in front of her. She wore her blonde hair down, having no ribbons to tie it, and Lucy wore a dark green midriff shirt while also wearing a pale green skirt to match. Her flat shoes were in a forest green color, pretty much making her be colored green like money. The winning guild would get fifty million jewels to spend, after all, so it was not really wrong to dress for success. Being green and having a good personality sure was a great contrast from Shelly's outfit being blue while she had a pretty bad personality, you know.

Mavis knew that Erza would possibly only have trouble facing off against Kagura, since they did have a vicious fight last year, and she also knew that Laxus could be an even match for Jura. Even though she had seen the abilities of the females from Aqua Kyogre, however, Mavis did not exactly have any surefire plans to get them defeated by any of the people from Fairy Tail. They could pretty much do almost anything with their spells, since most of their real techniques had been kept secret for no one to see how the dark guild was so advanced, and the green-eyed spirit could not even predict that Lucy had to defeat Shelly for their rivalry to reach its apex.

"Have you come up with some kind of plan to defeat Lucy, First Master? I checked the database of mages last week, and she isn't an S-Class mage or anywhere near the level of a Wizard Saint. Defeating her should not really be too difficult, since she is not on the same level as the girls from that guild known as Aqua Kyogre, but Lucy is still one of my children from the Fairy Tail guild. After seeing both Shelly and Lucy's strength, do you really think that the outcome will be a given if these two face off?" Makarov asked with a confident look on his face, since he could sense the tension in the moment of when the two girls locked eyes like they were fierce rivals.

She told him, as she began to frown a little bit, "I haven't figured out a true way to deal with her yet, for a few reasons. First, even though my predictions may be on target, I cannot exactly predict the emotions of others. I don't know what type of magic Lucy will use. Secondly, the spells in that magical book are just as unorthodox as they are useful. Lucy could summon up an electric dragon, for all we know, and I would not know how to counter it. Furthermore, I really have no idea about what will happen if Lucy and Shelly should meet in battle. They are both strong fighters, maybe even on the same level as Erza, so the dream of seeing them fight would be interesting.

Makarov had faith that Lucy could win, really having more faith in her than in the kids of his own guild, and that was because Natsu's sexual footage with Marina had really made rends in the teams. Lisanna had told Team Fairy Tail B that they would all stay together while taking out Natsu first, even though the varying opinions would just make the fairies from both teams have conflicts with one another, and the Third Guild Master of Fairy Tail could only sigh while facepalming himself at the fact that Natsu put women before money. He secretly believed that cash could be used to get dates with beautiful women, and that's why Makarov would his telescope to check out the hot springs in Crocus from a far distance.

In fact, he had even shocked Natsu by taking the Lacrima Vision Crystal from the projector last night and taking it to his room for some nice viewing pleasure. It wasn't Natsu's fault that the old man did not know he was having an affair within an affair, but Makarov had felt bad for never even thinking of peeping through Natsu's window to see Marina's nice body. She definitely was model material, mainly since she had been one of the nude models in the magazine titled _X-Class Female Villains, _and that magazine could only be purchased by people who were adults. Of course, Makarov had to wonder why a dark mage would love Natsu.

Speaking of Marina, as he turned his attention back to the survival tournament, Makarov was hoping that Natsu would not lose to her like how he had lost the match on the second day of the Grand Magic Games. She totally was quite the charmer, luring Natsu in with her scented perfume that gave off a smell of blackberries, and Marina had gotten inside of his head. Makarov knew that Natsu was also dating Marina, so bringing himself to fight her might be out of the question. Either way, no matter who would win that fight, the affair between Natsu and Marina had made the Fairy Tail guild have a few major cracks in its great bonds of friendship.

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><p><strong>Elsewhere...<strong>

On a street in Crocus, Kagura and the rest of her team were intensely glaring at the five members of Team Aqua Kyogre. The two groups of five females were simply standing across from each other, not even moving a single inch, and Shelly started things off by using her Water Magic to shoot out a large spiraling beam of cold water from her mouth. The females from Mermaid Heel immediately jumped back a few feet, not wanting to be slammed with so much water that covered the street, and Beth looked surprised to see that the large amount of water had suddenly been frozen by the water's cold temperatures to turn it into a solid block of ice. The large cube of ice had also blocked access to the other side of the battlefield, but why had the women from Team Aqua Kyogre vanished?

They were nowhere to be seen, odd since Milliana and other girls could clearly see through the ice, but Kagura refused to let her prey get away. She looked calm while simply slashing her sheathed sword at the large block of ice, and a large explosion transpired while it broke the frozen cube into many small ice shards! As the sounds of glassy ice could be heard while the shards hit the ground, still not breaking because of how dense the water had been, the girls from Team Mermaid Heel still wondered where their opponents had went. If they weren't behind the ice or above it, where could they have gone in such a short amount of time?

Suddenly, much to the shock of Beth Vanderwood, Shelly had come out of one of the falling ice shards while grinning evilly. She made a thin rapier of blue water materialize in her left hand, simply giving Beth a light slash on her right cheek, and Kagura was utterly surprised to see that these people could even hide inside of ice. That little slash on Beth's face might not have seemed like much, but the effect from Shelly's sword had made Beth immediately become a frozen statue! She was now unable to even talk or move while the white glacial ice covered her entire body, and her heart would freeze if she was not thawed out quickly.

Kagura charged at Shelly for pulling such a dirty move, ready to retaliate against the tanned woman, but the purple-haired leader of Team Mermaid Heel was caught by Shelly creating a second rapier that would be in her right hand. She made it be a little variation of Kagura's Archenemy, having seen its power in the year prior to the current Grand Magic Games, and one slash from this rapier had made Kagura become frozen by the cold wind that blew past her. She was now a petrified icy statue like Beth, not inclined to move, and the other girls from Team Mermaid Heel looked furious while they decided to gang up on Shelly.

However, they were suddenly stopped by a large bubble of boiling hot water that had formed around their feet. Shelly could only smile and do a hair flip while Marina emerged from a nearby ice shard with the other members of Team Aqua Kyogre, and the teal-haired woman snapped her fingers gently to increase the temperature of her boiling bubble. She had a sadistic smile on her face, having a predatory look in her green eyes, and Marina could only watch in a happy manner as the girls from Team Mermaid Heel screamed in pain from the water reaching 130 degrees Fahrenheit before it exploded. Scalding hot water came down to the ground in a large flood, even though no one from Aqua Kyogre was really affected by the boiling liquid, and all of the members from Team Mermaid Heel were now defeated.

"Well, that was an easy way to gain thirty points. These teams are nothing but a bunch of amateurs from a few second-rate guilds, except for Fairy Tail and Sabertooth, but let's keep causing a bit more havoc throughout Crocus. Don't forget, girls, that we're not here to win. Today is the day where I make sure that Lucy Heartfilia unleashes her sweet hate upon her enemies. It shall be good to see her in such a dark state, and then she will join us." Shelly told her team in a stern manner, smiling softly as Mizu, Kanata, and Midna went down into small puddles of water to simply scout for enemies.

Marina replied in calm manner, folding her arms while smirking a bit as Chapati announced that Team Lamia Scale had decimated Team Quatro Cerberus "Not only will our guild have so much power on our side, but just think of what we could do after crushing Fairy Tail. It would be pretty nice to crush the Balam Alliance, even though we take down other dark guilds for some fun, and there's never anything wrong with going against a bunch of people who lose to those fairies. They're so very easy to manipulate, and it's almost not fun. However, it is pretty entertaining to watch them all fight each other."

Knowing that she still had the crucial task of seeing how Lucy was doing right now in the tournament, Shelly simply jumped high into the air before landing on a rooftop in Crocus. She looked out into the distance, looking for an exact pinpoint to the location of Lucy, and Shelly had a calm look in her aqua blue eyes while she could see someone walking down a street where the fashion stores were located. It may or may not have been Lucy, but Shelly would surely take that chance. She turned into a puddle of water, before slithering off of the roof to move through the town at a fast pace to find what she was looking for.

While Shelly had now gone on her mission of seeing Lucy's dark powers in action, Marina knew that she had the job of taking out the fairies from this little event. Even though they might end up fighting each other, would it not still be fun to make sure that both teams were left mangled like how they should've been? Marina decided that the fairies truly did need a taste of their own medicine, in order for them to keep crumbling, and the way to do that was to simply transform into someone while hoping that a little bit of voice imitation would work as well. Really, if she was this clever, would everyone really fall for her act?

Marina put her hands together while a sphere of hot water surrounded her body, and she focused on her magical power as she looked pretty calm. Steam was coming out of the hot sphere for a few moments, as the warm water helped Marina relax while she was about to transform, but the teal-haired woman had a better idea at the last second. She did indeed use the Water Transformation Technique, after she stepped out of the water sphere, and the green-eyed girl transformed into an exact copy of Juvia Lockser. Wow, now wasn't that keeping the theme of love for Aqua Kyogre?

Marina had turned into Juvia for a good reason, since the Rain Woman was unconscious right now because of how Marina had used water droplets put a strange blue powder into the bottle of Coke that Juvia drank from, and this powder made its consumer lose all their magical power for 48 hours. With the real Juvia knocked out while her team thought she was only running late, that gave Marina the chance to wreak some havoc among the fairies while her leader would handle the main mission. In a weird sense, even though she was evilly helping Shelly keep Lucy to herself, Marina was also kindly helping Lucy have some peace that was greatly needed. She was definitely a big-time schemer, right?

She had heard the news about how Elfman had been asked to be in the stands today, mainly since Lisanna and Mira wanted to pulverize Natsu while Cana would help them beat him down, and the white-haired male knew it would be a manly decision to let a trio of angry ladies beat down a cheater. Of course, Juvia had agreed to be on Team Fairy Tail B before drinking down the cola that Marina had spiked. She had studied Juvia enough while being in Fairy Tail, smart enough to imitate her perfectly, and Marina simply ran off while knowing that faking Juvia would be more fun than the Rain Woman's habit of filling up her diary with many fantasies about Gray.

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><p><strong>Elsewhere, in a different part of Crocus...<strong>

Lucy walked down a road in Crocus known as Glamour Street, a street with extravagant stores that were filled with some of Fiore's most fashionable clothing. However, there weren't any tourists here today. The street seemed to be deserted, and she had looked pretty miffed at the fact that she hadn't found one single opponent yet. Had she been walking around in the safe part of Crocus or something, the part where almost no one would even think of going to? Would Lucy not get the chance to fight anybody, and would the final day really be so boring for her?

While she was walking around, Lucy also heard Chapati make an important announcement about Team Mermaid Heel. All five of those girls had been frozen and burned by Shelly and Marina, giving thirty points to Team Aqua Kyogre, and Team Mermaid Heel finished the game in seventh place. Team Aqua Kyogre was now in first place with 100 points, meaning that Team Sabertooth needed 20 more points to catch up, and Lucy would definitely make sure that her team would end up winning. With only six teams left in this event, things were bound to get a little bit crazy.

The blonde mage continued to walk down the street, still seeing no one nearby, but then she narrowed her brown eyes when she heard some sounds of books falling in a place that seemed like a nearby library. She heard the following sounds of explosions occurring from within the library, making her wonder who could be causing so much havoc inside of that building. There was obviously a fight going on in there, and Lucy had remembered how Erza had informed her about Fairy Tail's strategy to make Sabertooth crumble last time.

If Rufus was supposedly the key point in Sabertooth's downfall, according to the belief of Mavis, why not put a little halt in that plan to hinder Fairy Tail's chances of winning? However, better yet, why not cause a slight bit of confusion? Lucy had begun to close her eyes while exhaling a soft breath of air, and this allowed her to use her non-spell ability of Wind Magic to gain some magical power. Then, she proceeded to open the black spell book to try out the first spell of this new magic that Shelly had given to her. What would come out of it, and how powerful would it be?

The first two lines of black text on the current page had begun to glow, letting Lucy know that this spell was ready to be activated, and it was known as Shadow Beam. This spell caused Lucy to fire a large black beam of dark magic from her left hand. It struck a nearby building, making eight thin black shadows stretch out in the eight directions of a compass rose to at least 100 feet, and the shadows were pulled back fast like slingshots to create eight large blasts of black energy in the spot where the building had now been reduced to rubble. The blasts had combined to make a pretty large attack that could be seen by everyone, and its power had left a massive crater in the spot where the building once stood.

A familiar female voice told Lucy in a stern tone, as her footsteps came from behind, "Wow, that's a pretty big move you've got there. Still, I really doubt that it will be enough to help you in our fight. After all, Lucy, I must win for Fairy Tail while you must win for Sabertooth. Just because your former friends are down in third and fourth place, that does not mean we are out. Don't expect me to go easy on you, Lucy."

Upon hearing this person's voice, Lucy had a stern look on her face while replying with tension in her cocoa brown eyes, "If you think that I'll go easy on you, Erza, then you're really wrong. Just because Natsu is now taking heat for cheating on Lisanna with that other girl, I'm still mad at all of you for helping him keep his first affair from me. Just because I may be delicate like a flower to you, that's still no excuse for not letting me know such crucial info. You were supposed to be one of my most loyal friends, but you still let me get blindsided by a jerk like Natsu."

The blonde mage turned around to see Erza standing a few feet behind her, clearly having been directed by Mavis to come here to try and deal with Lucy, but there was no way that Lucy would let herself get beaten by Erza. Even if they had been fighting right now, couldn't Erza just not focus on the game? After all, she had been wanting to make up with Lucy for not being a good friend when the window of opportunity had been opened. The chance to make things right may never come, especially if Erza planned to help Fairy Tail win, and Lucy still saw them all as traitors for not being there to pull her up when she was falling off the cliff of an intact relationship.

Deciding to end this as fast as possible, not wanting to do inflict too much damage on Lucy, Erza requipped into her Heaven's Wheel Armor to fly high into the skies. She used her magic to create 100 swords, sending them all straight at Lucy from three different directions, but the blonde girl had a small smirk on her face while she used the second move of her eighth type of magic. It was known as Shadow Speed, and this spell caused Lucy to evade Erza's assault at extremely high speeds. She had vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving her scarlet-haired opponent shocked to see all of her weapons strike the ground, but this was only part one of Lucy's revenge.

She reappeared right in front of Erza, having used her high speed to spring up into the air, and Lucy called upon the next spell known as Shadow Smoke. This spell allowed the Celestial Spirit Wizard to exhale black smoke from her mouth, but it was not ordinary smoke. It had a rather putrid smell, making Erza cough while also losing her focus for a few moments, but she recovered quickly while requipping into her Black Wing Armor to blow all of the smoke towards Lucy. When the black smoke had engulfed her, it made black shadowy explosions occur. The dark power of her own spell made Lucy scream in agony, and she fell down to the ground with a hard thud.

Lucy had fallen down hard on the concrete, coughing up some blood after she hit the ground, and the blonde mage was sent sliding back a few feet. She slowly tried to stand up, not even paying attention to the fact that the shadows from Erza's swords were now being grabbed by her own shadow, and the blonde wizard did not know that this non-spell ability was made to amplify the darkness within her before she would be fully healed. She could see Erza flying higher into the air, before proceeding to swoop down and end this fight with a powerful strike, and Lucy tried to crawl away. She was injured pretty badly from that fall, since it also dislocated her left shoulder and made her right leg feel pain while it was bleeding, so how could she get out of this situation?

As she closed her eyes with worry, not wanting to be slashed by Erza, Lucy heard the familiar sound of loud flatulence. She heard more farts being let out with ease, creating quite a thick blanket of smoke, and Lucy coughed a bit while knowing who the smell belonged to. She opened her eyes to see that Shelly had arrived on the scene, quickly putting Lucy in a sphere of warm water with healing properties, and the blonde girl could only let her damaged clothes slip off of her body to now leave her in a pink lacy bra with pink lacy panties to match. Her stomach still rumbled, something that made Shelly smirk a bit, and Lucy's dark powers had made the water turn black to obscure her while the smoke cleared up.

Erza asked in a curious tone while she flew down to the ground, narrowing her brown eyes from seeing Shelly from Team Aqua Kyogre arrive on the scene, "You're the leader from Team Aqua Kyogre, aren't you? Why in the world are you getting in on this little fight? Are you trying to make a variation of the three-way battle that was between me, Kagura, and Minerva last year?"

"That's right, Erza Scarlet of Fairy Tail. I am the infamous Shelly Izumi who works for the guild known as Aqua Kyogre, and I just thought that I'd check in on my rival. Trying to kick a woman when she's down is really what a garbage guild must be about these days, so you're in the right place. With that being said, I already told my curious little rival that I would not betray her in our little truce. Lucy and I have fought a few times in the past, but she still has yet to truly take me down. You must be pretty lame, picking on a girl who is just getting a taste of dark power, but I'll have you to entertain me while she lets it flow into her body. If you're ready, then, let's have some fun." Shelly explained to her foe in a sadistic manner while smirking deviously, ready to show Erza that trying to hurt what Aqua Kyogre wanted would have dire consequences.

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 23? Did you like it? I apologize for the long wait and changing the chapter's plot a bit, since I had to register early for classes in the spring semester. The StiCy will improve in this two, three, or four-part arc, so don't fret. Anyway, will Shelly truly show Erza how brutal she can be? What happens when Lucy recovers, and joins in? Will these battles get pretty serious? Will Gray run into trouble, as he encounters "Juvia"? Standby for the update!<strong>


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 24: Three Guilds And Another Lucy<strong>

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><p>Shelly had interrupted the battle that Lucy was having with Erza, since her blonde rival had been struck hard by one of her own spells, and the tanned woman was simply going to take care of this matter for Lucy. Even though she was an evil thief with a vicious streak of defeating anyone who was in her way, Shelly still hated seeing a woman get kicked when she was down. Erza had been intent on striking Lucy down when she was heavily injured from crashing into the ground, and that was not exactly fair. It seemed that the guild of fairies could play fair in love or war, from anyone's viewpoint of the situation.<p>

There had been tension between Lucy and her old friends for quite a while, since it had mostly come from Natsu showing his dislike for her, and the fact that he had cheated on Lucy with Lisanna had really been the flame to ignite the entire conflict. Cana had tried to tell the brown-eyed girl that she was sorry for what had gone down in the guild of Fairy Tail, but what kind of best friend could she possibly be to Lucy? A best friend would tell their closest ally if they were being played for a fool, not wanting to see their heart get shattered into many pieces, but Cana had just let Lucy get led on like a fool following a map that someone had crudely made to play mind games with them.

She had even thought that Lucy would stoop low enough for the prospect of a revenge plot against Natsu and Lisanna for making almost all of the other guild members ignore her, but Lucy would never hurt her ex's relationship in any way. In fact, the fire dragon slayer had pretty much screwed his whole life up on his own. Last night was total proof that he could not cheat on women forever, especially since Lisanna truly thought that he was a great guy, and Natsu was paying the price for playing with the hearts of his two exes. They could ironically team up on him, but what fun would that be?

However, putting love aside right now, Shelly needed to show Lucy that she would truly get good fortune as payback for all of the pain that the fairies had brought upon her. It did not really matter who would be giving the pain to Fairy Tail, since Shelly was just going to keep Erza busy while Lucy would be healing and feeling the dark power amplify inside her body while she floated motionlessly in the sphere of black water. Taking in the poison of the dark power had put Lucy in a temporary state of being dead, but she would be alive again when the power was flowing through her body at full strength.

As the green clouds of smoke from Shelly's gas had begun to clear up, even though the stench had made Erza cover her nose, the black-haired woman could not really help but smirk a bit at who she was facing. It was Erza Scarlet, the requipping mage who had been known for her many skills that helped her beat down people with ease, but Shelly saw her as nothing more than a mediocre person. Not because she saw Erza as being weak, but it was how she acted that really made Shelly begin to really see that a fierce villain like herself was more of a friend to Lucy than Erza could ever be. After all, what friend would hide a secret that could've been told in a honest manner to make the pain easier to take?

Erza told Shelly in a displeased tone while looking stern, as she had to breathe while taking her hands off of her nose and mouth, "I don't know what you're talking about by having a truce with Lucy, since you two aren't even on the same team, and this does not concern you. It was supposed to be a battle between two old friends, Shelly Izumi, until you had to go and stink it up. I don't know why you have Lucy in that watery bubble of dark energy, but I will not let you try and do anything cruel to her. She got beaten down by Minerva last year, and it's not fair to me if she's taken out by you or your team of punks."

The blue-eyed woman replied in a calm manner, smirking at the words spoken by her foe, "I like how you say that you two are friends, but she pretty much got stabbed in the back by the people who let her get cheated on. You just let Lucy suffer for months while not even telling her about the affair that Natsu had with Lisanna, so your definition of friendship is what anyone else would just call a selfish act of being a bitch. Following Natsu wasn't exactly the best move for you, Erza, and it's sad that you took so long to realize that. You can't just think that making up with her will be settled easily, and even I find the followers of a devious couple to be pieces of trash."

Shelly's words had truly cut into Erza's skin, making her unable to respond against the words of the top female commander from Aqua Kyogre, and it was clear that a few nerves had been hit. Making Lucy go through deceit was a bad thing to do, which Erza would own up to, but she did not really approve of Lucy allying with Shelly. How would it even work, since they would eventually have to face each other, and why did Shelly seem so calm? Anyone else who ran into Erza Scarlet would possibly be scared, trying to run away, but the scarlet-haired mage did not know who she was dealing with.

She charged at Shelly, looking fierce about taking her out right now, but the tanned woman simply yawned while kicking Erza in the abdomen with her left foot. The force of Shelly's kick had sent Erza flying back into a building, making a gaping hole in the wall, but she had quickly requipped into her Lighting Empress Armor to fire multiple lightning beams at Shelly. The ten lightning beams headed straight for her, but Shelly used her water sphere to completely nullify the attack. She was safe inside of that defensive move, and only something like Lucy's Aqua Ball could truly break through it.

Erza had now decided to requip into her Adamantine Armor, hoping that her defenses could be on par with Shelly's moves to cancel them out, and she flew straight towards the villainous woman with the intent to end this with slashes from the blades on her metal shields. Much to her surprise, however, Shelly smirked evilly while creating a large amount of water in her mouth. Her cheeks and stomach swelled up while she took in more water from the sphere that she was in, and she quickly jumped out of it to shoot many blobs of blue sludge at Erza. She wasn't really worried about all of it getting on her armor, seeing it as a failed attack, but Shelly could say otherwise.

As the liquid slid down the armor, seeming to have the same properties as regular water, Erza gasped in shock to see that Shelly's water sphere now burst to make water flood the street they were standing on. This water was rather sticky, similar with the move that Shelly used on Sting when they had first fought, and Erza found herself unable to move. This gunk had gotten into her armor, making it rust while also starting to crack into many pieces, and Erza's shields had also broken apart because of this spell. It was known as Blue Gummi, and this move could make Shelly's water cause a substance to be sticky before breaking it apart while the water would make it frail.

With the elimination of one of Erza's best armors, she could only fall to her knees while taking a harsh punch to the face from Shelly. She had been sent rolling through the water while coughing up blood, but Shelly was not finished yet. She grabbed Erza by her legs, before slamming her against the ground while grinning evilly. The brown-eyed woman screamed in agony as she felt some of her bones crack, feeling even more pain when Shelly crushed the bones in her right arm by stomping her left foot down on it, but let's just say that the worst pain was just around the corner.

"Shelly, stop playing games with Fairy Tail. You've had your crew mess with us every day, one of your teammates was with Natsu to throw off his game by using love, and now you're allying with Lucy for some reason. If you're so tough, then let's get this fight over with. Quit toying around with me like how Minerva did last year, and I will make you see that the guild's rage is my rage! You messed with us, and you'll pay for that!" Erza told Shelly in a stern tone, as she was bloodied and badly bruised while struggling to stand up, looking intent on winning this with her Nakagami Armor. (Okay, this is what annoys Fairy Tail fans. If you saw the fight between Erza and Minerva, can we all agree that Erza's win was utter shit? Don't even get me started on Chapter 404 of the manga, either.)

The black-haired woman replied while smirking a bit, as she began to speak in a calm tone, "Oh, look. You're about to use Fairy Tail's stupid power of friendship that allows you to win with no real logic behind it. That's really pathetic, if you think that will really faze me, but this fight has now been taken out of my hands. Wow, I sure do love stalling for time. I'll just let my new apprentice handle the rest while I watch your demise, and laugh at you."

Erza was about to ask what Shelly meant by the fight being taken out of her hands, but she saw the smart thief snap her fingers to dispel the black bubble of water that surrounded Lucy. She had been inside of it for a while now, her body taking in the dark waters, and the poison had finally become one with her body. The darkness was recognized as a helpful toxin by Lucy, letting the black liquid enter her bloodstream, and it had even changed a bit of her genetics as well. When Erza saw her, she looked really surprised.

Lucy had now worn a black dress with the sleeves draping down her shoulders, the dress having both legs showing, and she had an aqua blue sash around her waist. She also wore some dark blue high heels as well, since the darkness had given her a new outfit, and Lucy also had fanged teeth. Her hair had now become brown while her eyes had become blue like Shelly's and Sting's, but the normal smile of confidence on her face had been replaced by an evil grin. The two girls were certainly no longer polar opposites, even though their traits had made them be mirrors of each other, and they certainly did share a dislike of Fairy Tail.

"Thank you so much for giving me some time to bathe in the darkness, Shelly, and now I know what you want from me. To gain the power that I need, hate is an emotion that works well with these black spells of misery. I can now see why the third spell backfired on me like that, since every spell in this section takes up some magical power, but now I have more strength. The power is flowing through me, and now it's time for me to give payback to my former friends." Lucy explained to Shelly in a dark manner, looking pretty vicious while her hate was directed towards Erza.

Lucy wanted to really test out her new spells at full strength, totally determined to not lose against Erza, and the blonde girl used the fourth move of her dark magic. It was known as Dark Misfortune, and it caused shadows to come from underground. Erza looked pretty scared of what was about to happen, and the shadows grew spikes while slamming themselves down on her body with vicious amounts of power. They even turned into drills that pierced through her skin, making her scream in pure terror from the pain that caused her to bleed, and she fell to the ground with a hard thud.

However, as she saw the red-haired woman struggling to stand up again, Lucy could only give Erza a deadly glare while letting her know that she had not even given out all of the payback to her deceitful former friend. She used the fifth spell that was known as Shadowy Flash, and it caused a black sphere to appear in front of Erza. It flashed a blinding white light, making her shadow appear, and the sphere was pulling Titania inward by making a shadowy black hand grab her shadow. She was pulled into the sphere, and it exploded into a massive blast of black energy. Black smoke filled the street, making Shelly unable to see if Erza was alive, but she did love how the smoke smelled utterly putrid.

She could also sense that the new power had made Lucy's feelings of hate emerge, sensing them to be very dark while malice could be seen in her eyes, and Shelly could only smirk evilly as she heard Lucy inhale all of the black smoke to give herself some more power. She used her sixth spell, Shadow Snatch, and it made a shadowy hand with supposedly long feminine nails pass right through Erza. It appeared to do nothing at first, but the shadow was actually absorbing most of her magical power. It also sealed the scarlet-haired woman's power away in the shadows for a while, turning her into nothing more than a harmless teenager without that overpowered and illogical Nakagami Armor.

Lucy then proceeded to use her seventh spell, Shadow Punch, and it caused her fists to be surrounded by a black aura of malice. She stretched her fists out towards Erza, confusing Titania while she didn't see the shadows of Lucy's fists extending towards her. This attack would cause two black blasts of shadows to occur, if they hit her, but Lucy had a better idea. She made her shadowy fists turn into claws that stretched far to grab Erza's arms from behind, and she showed Shelly that she was enjoying this act of revenge by evilly grinning as she instructed her shadows to break Erza's arms before breaking every intact bone that she had in each arm as well.

The sword-wielding mage from Fairy Tail was screaming in pure agony while this was going on, feeling the pain to be so immense, and she only got some relief from when Lucy had stopped for one moment. Erza still kept trying to stand, even though she was now stumbling, and Shelly was getting pretty tired of how Erza kept saying that she would win to get revenge on Aqua Kyogre for messing with her friends. Even though Erza looked exhausted, having no big power-ups in her arsenal because of the shadowy hand taking away nearly 99% of her magical power, Shelly was planning to end this here and now.

She simply made a ball of water build up in her mouth, and she spat it up into the sky. While Erza did not seem impressed with an attack that supposedly missed, let's just say that Shelly kept her busy while Lucy made all of the shadows of every person and every building in Crocus begin to be honing in on Erza. She was going to create what would be a pretty massive explosion that could presumably kill everybody in the town, if it wasn't controlled, but Shelly had made her spell have the denseness to contain the blast. She could keep Lucy's spell from doing unnecessary damage, since the tanned woman now had Lucy's dark side in her clutches.

The final spell was known as Shadow's Dark Light, and many shadows were heading towards Erza right now. The effects of this move had left her immobilized for it to work, even though she was near death, and Erza now knew that this was punishment for not being a true friend to Lucy. Even though she had hated Natsu for cheating on Lucy and making her leave the guild, the scarlet-haired mage never gave a true apology to the Celestial Spirit Wizard. Even when someone tried to do an act of good in the present, the karma from the past was always standing right behind them.

"This is my revenge for how you lied to me, Erza! You never even told me that Natsu was cheating on me, and you just let me suffer like a pawn in his little game. The heartbreak made me angry, giving me all these hurtful emotions that almost made me kill myself, but now I'll be at true peace when the fairies die one by one. You let Natsu cheat on me and use me, but I couldn't kill him back then. I'll go after him later, but I'll end things here when I kill you." Lucy told Erza in a malicious tone, giving her a deadly frown that would make anyone run in fear, and now this fight was about to end.

Erza replied in a soft manner, crying as tears fell from her eyes while the final attack went off in mere seconds, "Lucy, I'm sorry that no one was there for you... I'm sorry for not helping you, as well as letting you go through so much pain, so please forgive me. Forgive me, I beg you!"

As she said those last words, Lucy's final spell created an enormous black blast that towered over most of Crocus! It decimated some buildings, turning them into rubble, and even the street was becoming broken apart. The ground was shaking like a large earthquake was happening, even though it was the sound waves from the blast, and all of the spell's power had been focused on tearing down Erza. Shelly's ball of water came down from the sky, giving some control to Lucy's blast of Misfortune Magic, and the black blast had turned into a large flood of raging black water while the smoke was quickly clearing up.

When all of the smoke faded away, Shelly could only grin in a sadistic manner while seeing Erza unconscious with her eyes open. Blood was coming out of every wound in her body, even leaving her mouth because of how the black water tore through her gums and broke her teeth, so now Shelly had gotten rid of one big threat to her plans. She could see Lucy falling to her knees while her hair became blonde again, her eyes becoming cocoa brown, but she still kept the dress as a nice little present from Shelly. Really, why turn good but have to part with a nice dress when so much magical power is used up? Lucy was also breathing heavily, and her rumbling stomach didn't make things any better.

She had gained five points for defeating Erza, even though Lucy felt like Shelly kinda deserved them more for coming to her rescue, and the blonde girl tried to stand while she still clutched her stomach in pain. She wasn't feeling good from eating the waffles that Shelly had tampered with, and Lucy could only bite her lip while letting out a few large farts. The gas was also helping her be rid of the black smoke in her body, since it would keep her in that evil state even if she wasn't using the Misfortune Magic, and Lucy blushed a light shade of pink while knowing that Sting heard her trumpet solo from far away. To make matters weirder, her rival had seen the blonde mage let her flatulence loose.

Shelly giggled a bit from hearing Lucy pass gas like that, really wishing that she had let out a fart on Erza, and the black-haired woman decided to lift Lucy's mood with a little bit of relief. She smiled a bit while letting Lucy know that she was now becoming more like a girl who belonged in Aqua Kyogre, since she had now used that dark energy's gases to let out a few farts, and Shelly simply released a large fart on Lucy to show the blonde girl who could do it better. She let the large cloud of yellow smoke envelope them both, making the judges wonder what was going on, and Shelly was going to help Lucy be a little more open with her thoughts while she went behind the brown-eyed girl to whisper some sweet words in her ear.

"You know that power is what you want, Lucy Heartfilia. Ever since you lost to me, I could tell that you wanted to become as strong as me. You keep saying how you want to beat me, yet you couldn't even beat Erza without my help. It was good to see you pass gas, Lucy, and the dark power is making you become more like me. I've always enjoyed seeing the fire in your eyes, that drive for revenge, and you even want to keep Sting from me. Admit it, little girl. You want to be on the same level of power as me, and you want to be bad like me. Well, become a double agent like Marina. Join me in destroying the fairies, Lucy." Shelly told her in a calm manner, sweetly whispering in her ear as she licked her left cheek.

Lucy replied in a calm manner while smiling, as she turned around to face her seductive rival, "Shelly, we're like mirrors of each other. Even now, I still can't be like you because I'm weaker than you. Just like when I got beaten by Minerva in the Naval Battle last year, I had to be saved from death. Just because my hateful side has shown, I can't be a member of Aqua Kyogre. Shelly, I'll still fight you for how you kissed Sting and stripped for him in front of me. You may be a very sexy thief, but I won't let him fall for your games. I don't have enough power to fight you right now, but you'll see how fierce I am!"

Before Lucy could even try to throw a punch at Shelly, ready to strike her with even a light hit, the blonde mage was suddenly stopped by her own will. Shelly looked a bit puzzled about why Lucy had not hit her, expecting a punch to the face, but Lucy sighed softly while looking at her rival. She just couldn't battle her right now, not ready to fight with her yet, and how could the blonde mage turn on an ally who saved her life? Betraying Shelly's alliance is one thing that Lucy couldn't bring herself to do, since betrayal would make her no better than Natsu with his cheating, and Lucy fell to her knees while knowing that she still wasn't strong enough.

She could only bow down to the woman who was the reason why she was even alive right now, despite not liking the fact that the girl who kissed Sting had saved her, but Lucy was a little shocked to see Shelly offering her hand to help the brown-eyed girl stand up. The voluptuous villain let Lucy know that she had now unlocked a new ability for her non-spell abilities, and that was quite a matrix right there. After all, who can possibly have an ability within an ability? Lucy looked really curious to hear this news, and the spell book began to pulsate in all eight colors for every type of magic.

Her magic was now going to evolve, letting her reach the next stage of spells, and Lucy simply followed Shelly's advice. Lucy was told to spit on the ground, which she did, and that water had quickly turned into a clone of herself! Lucy looked shocked by something like this happening, not thinking that it was possible, and the clone even wore a simple blue T-shirt with a blue miniskirt while wearing some blue high heels. Her spell book was blue, clearly showing that she could use Water Magic, and all of the information that this clone gathered in her brain would be transferred to the real Lucy. Wow, now wouldn't that be great for becoming smart?

Lucy simply told the clone to run off to another part of Crocus, which she did by sinking down into a puddle of black water that was left by Shelly's flood that had been used to attack Erza, and Lucy could only rest her head on her rival's chest while hugging her to show her thanks for this new technique. Shelly hugged back while telling Lucy that she was deserving to be in Sabertooth, since their alliance would prevail, but the blue-eyed woman grinned a bit while knowing that Lucy played into her hands by trusting her. She wouldn't turn her back on Lucy, but Shelly would eventually give Lucy a tough choice in a certain situation. (Foreshadowing already? Wow!)

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, in another part of Crocus...<strong>

Gray had been trying to find Rufus, since it was strange that he did not use his Memory-Make: Night of Falling Stars on Fairy Tail yet, and he could only be stopped by the Lacrima Vision screen showing Erza's brutal defeat at the hands of Lucy. This event was known to be pretty vicious, since Kagura's battle against Erza had proved that things could get crazy, but Lucy took it to a new level. It was weird to see that Shelly had helped out with the battle, too, since the two girls were not even on the same team, and taking out Team Aqua Kyogre was what the ice mage now had to do.

He had been looking all over for Marina, the girl who had been playing with the heart of Natsu Dragneel, and Gray knew that Marina's team had played dirty. After all, why else would Shelly join a battle that had nothing to do with her? Since the black-haired male could not expose the cheating ways of Aqua Kyogre, mostly because the fans and sponsors were too caught up in the guild's creativeness, he would have to beat down those girls one by one. He planned to start with Marina the manipulator, since she seemed to be the tactical officer of the team, but where could she be?

The ice mage had even ran into Lyon Vastia, who also wanted to challenge Aqua Kyogre for using water in dirty ways that were a bunch of insults to his beloved Juvia, but even Lyon had not seen Marina around. She was competing today with the other members of her team, and she had been onscreen helping Shelly take out Team Mermaid Heel. He had even asked the First Master about where she could be, but even Mavis could not find Marina. It was strange to know that she would just vanish, since she and Shelly did make a powerful team with some pretty hot water.

As Gray looked stern, hiding behind a large plant outside a flower shop because of the fact that he heard footsteps, he had to wonder about Marina. Was she trying to sneak up on him in a clever way, moving with such soft footsteps to make it seem like a person with small shoes would cross Gray's path, and could Gray possibly ambush the teal-haired girl? He knew that this would also be a good chance to make her openly admit to sabotaging the Fairy Tail teams during the Grand Magic Games, and he also had to wonder if she truly was playing with Natsu's heart. After all, Gray had never heard her say that she was toying with Natsu.

After all, him and Erza had only assumed that was the case because they thought Marina would have to be dumb to truly date a guy like Natsu. He was not exactly nice or even rich like the guys from Blue Pegasus, and the pink-haired male also lacked manners. Besides, why else would footage of Natsu having sex with Marina be in the projector? It seemed like Natsu hadn't even known that he was being taped, though, and Gray did manage to put the pieces of his assumption together. Now that he could tell that Marina was definitely something, he tackled what appeared to be a woman as soon as she turned the corner to be on the same street as him.

"I've got you now, Marina! If you think that your steamy video with Natsu was just pure love, then I don't buy it! Erza and I can tell that you're just toying around with him while your team enjoys your laughs, but we'll beat down all of you! I'll start it off by showing you that messing with Fairy Tail was a pretty major mistake, and now you're going to really pay for it!" Gray shouted in a stern tone while looking confident that his plan was a success, as he tackled a woman down to the ground, and surprisingly had his hands on her breasts while he had pinned her down.

A certain blue-haired Rain Woman replied in a loving manner, blushing a light shade of pink at the fact that the ice mage was now on top of her, "Gray-sama, you're finally showing your love for Juvia by tackling her like this! Juvia has had dreams about you making a loving move on her, but she had never thought that it would happen right now. Please let me be by your side, having my waters of love to protect you while we fight together, and my defenses can work well with your offenses. It's such a great plan with romantic chemistry involved."

Gray got off of her while he didn't even know why she would want to team up with him, since they were on two different teams this time, but he did wonder if she simply got the idea from seeing Lucy and Shelly team up against Erza earlier. That would be a good strategy for Gray to do with Juvia, since they knew each other really well, but the smart male was worried about what he would do if they had to battle Lucy and Shelly. Those two were both pretty much full of tricks, always pulling something that created a big twist in battles, and since when did Juvia start having tactical plans in battles?

She smiled happily while telling Gray that it would be a good idea to go after Shelly and Lucy first, thinking that they would possibly even take out the mighty Laxus with ease, and Gray looked somewhat perplexed by the fact that Juvia even told him to measure the distance of the attacks used by the enemies. She even told him that it would be smart to have her attacks ricochet off of his ice, most likely for them to gain more power and speed, and the ice mage was very shocked to hear his blue-eyed lover talking in such a tactical way with strategies that involved creativity.

Juvia was never acting smart like this, since she was normally clumsy and loving when Gray was around, so he had to wonder why she was being such a planner right now. The blue-haired girl was not even holding his hand while they were running to another street that was close by, and seeing Juvia jump high into the air to search for enemies from the sky had really made Gray drop his jaw. She even landed on a rooftop, before doing a triple-flip down to the ground, and it truly was shocking for Gray to see Juvia smirking calmly at him while she was being so athletic. Really, when had Juvia ever possessed such strong physical skills?

As Juvia walked towards Gray, smiling with joy like she was about to kiss him, he used some quick thinking to distract her while he saw a familiar face coming down the street. He calmly let her know that Lucy had arrived, possibly having beaten Shelly down in a little battle that they had, but his guess about that would be pretty wrong. The ice mage could see that the blonde girl had changed her attire from the black dress that she had worn in her fight with Erza, and he always knew that a cute girl like Lucy had enjoyed looking beautiful on any occasion. She had just finished dealing with rivals, but was she about to encounter another one?

Seeing this as a bad twist of fate, Gray knew that Juvia was about to get harsh on Lucy for being in Team Sabertooth. She was clearly planning to win this event for Gray, totally going to make him really want her, and what happened next made this game really get changed up. Juvia simply smiled at the sight of Lucy being here, truly making her be out of character, and Gray just had to find out what the heck was going on. He used a new spell of Molding Magic, not caring for anything that was flashy right now, and this move was known as Ice-Make: Foresight Glasses. He never had poor vision problems, but was that what he wanted to see right now?

Gray put on an icy pair of glasses with big lenses, not really caring if they made him look dorky right now, and the special ability of this eye-wear created an icy wind that could be seen as white air floating down the street. It made Lucy's clone shiver a bit, since she was not dressed for the weather, and the Foresight Glasses made a blue aura surround Juvia when Gray looked at her. This aura was actually some icy air that had the ability to revert any person or object to the state that they were in before, thus causing any enhancements or transformations to be reversed, and the air made Juvia smirk a bit while she began to giggle.

"Well, aren't you quite the clever one? Tell me, how did you know that it was not Juvia that crossed your path?" The Rain Woman asked with a sadistic smirk on her face, before turning into a puddle of water and reforming herself to reveal her identity as Marina from Team Aqua Kyogre.

Lucy's clone interrupted in a calm manner, giggling while she spoke in a dark tone of voice, "It would be pretty bad, Marina, if Gray were to expose what Team Aqua Kyogre has been doing. He is a very smart guy, and keeping him busy would be the best idea. Let's not allow him to escape from this fight, but you can actually go scour for some people to take down. As for me, I have some chatting to do with Gray because our history goes back to when I was in Fairy Tail. I don't know if he was on Natsu's side or not, but I want to know."

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><p><strong>Elsewhere...<strong>

Sting had just finished beating down the members of Team Blue Pegasus with ease, really determined to win battles this year, and he had gained thirty crucial points for Team Sabertooth. They were now back in the lead with 115 points, putting them higher than Team Aqua Kyogre, and the white dragon slayer knew that those guys were the ones that everyone wanted to beat. Neither of the top two teams had lost a member yet, since they were both so incredibly strong, and Sting looked a bit cocky while thinking about how great it would be to put Shelly in her place.

Of course, he had to wonder if that was actually possible. The blue-eyed thief may have been pretty sexy, along with how she could dish out a few good insults to people that she hated, but all of that bark was backed up with a fierce bite. She was pretty much a monstrous mermaid in battles, using her Water Magic in big ways that could destroy anyone, and Sting knew that Shelly was also good at devising quick strategies. She was almost like an evil counterpart of Lucy, working for a pretty infamous dark guild, and the fact that she used her ice in ways to make it freeze while also being explosive made her a major threat.

There was the chance of Lucy being able to beat her, knowing how the rivalry between both girls was really fierce, but Sting knew that he couldn't always leave things to Lucy for her to handle them. He had a few new techniques of his own, even though he didn't use them against the members of Team Blue Pegasus, but how could they be used to break down Shelly? She had even almost given him a kiss that would freeze him to death, and he was pretty lucky that Lucy came along to save his life. He had stood up for her many times, even trying to make her seem impressed by his skills, and now Sting had to find his girlfriend.

Lector looked a bit shocked while alerting him to the presence of a Lacrima Vision screen in the sky, letting the five remaining teams have a little summary of how the rankings seemed right now, and the white dragon slayer looked up at the screen to see footage and audio being replayed of the battle that featured Lucy and Shelly against Erza. Sting had definitely heard the noise from that black blast, not even thinking that Lucy caused it or even thinking that Shelly had used magic to make the black spells bring out Lucy's evil side, and the white dragon slayer knew that his girlfriend was in trouble if she was with Shelly right now.

Sting had also seen the large flood of black water in an area that was not too far from the park where he had beaten down the five members of Team Blue Pegasus, and he also looked concerned when the screen showed the large cloud of gas that Shelly let out when she farted on Lucy. Sting did know if his girlfriend had been beaten up by Shelly, since no screams were heard, but he did openly voice his worries about Lucy taking on Shelly in something serious like this event. The villainous woman might not hold back, and Sting was not going to let his girlfriend get killed. Shelly's gases had also been rumored to be toxic, too, which meant that Sting had to hustle.

"Based on all the data I've gathered, even if Lucy were to use Lightning Magic because of how it's super effective against Shelly's Water Magic, the chances of her actually winning are close to zero because of my Archive's readings detecting very high levels of power from Shelly's magic. Since Lucy is our friend, as well as being your girlfriend, please go save her." Hibiki told Sting in a calm tone while he was still lying down on the ground, since Sting had given him a hard hit to the head because he wanted to make this battle go pretty fast.

Sting shouted in a fierce tone while narrowing his blue eyes, as he began running to where the black blast had been seen while Lector flew in the air above him to try and search for Lucy from the sky, "Shelly Izumi, I'll make you regret ever meeting me! If you plan to make Lucy use her spells to do evil things, then I'll stop you by sending you into the ocean with a Holy Nova attack! Also, Lucy, there's no need to worry! I'm on my way, so I'll help you show Shelly what real teamwork is all about! Don't worry about being forced into Aqua Kyogre, because I swear to you that I won't let it happen!"

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 24? Did you like it? Wow.. One battle into this last event, and things have already gotten hectic! I apologize for all the gas, since it was meant to give comic relief to the tension and revenge. It may seem like I revealed Marina's disguise so early, but you'll see a little plot twist that makes Gray fall a trick that was once used before. Anyway, how will he fare against Lucy's clone? What battles will also take place? Standby for the update! <strong>


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 25: Evolving To Much Darker Levels<strong>

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><p>Rufus could only look bewildered at the fact that he could see Lucy facing off against Gray on a street while the Lacrima Vision screen in the air had now shifted to this battle, the master of Memory-Make Magic standing on the highest rooftop in Crocus to be a scouting attacker for Team Sabertooth, since he had remembered how the members of Team Sabertooth went in five separate directions to cover more ground. If Gray could do it, he would be taking out one of the main people in Sabertooth's strategy. Based on his memory and calculations, Rufus honestly did not even see Lucy as a good match-up against Gray. It wasn't because of the fact that she used a spell book, but the current color of the book made Rufus seem worried.<p>

Water Magic was great as a defensive type of magic, but water could easily be frozen by ice. On top of that, Lucy had let her teammates know that the book only let her use one type of magic at a time. Rufus knew very well that the rules of logic made fire be very effective against ice, and using Water Magic in a situation like this would only be asking for trouble. He did not want to see what would happen, having predicted the possible results of a fight like this, and Rufus simply used his Memory-Make Magic to stay focused on Marina while Gray was distracted with Lucy. Was the outcome truly clear, or could Lucy really give Rufus quite a shock?

The ice mage looked a bit curious while going into a combat stance, wondering what would come out of Lucy's blue book, and Gray kept his guard up while he could hear Chapati announce that a new fight had started between Lucy Heartfilia and Gray Fullbuster. The black-haired male narrowed his dark blue eyes at her, not wanting to go easy on her because he had wanted to be on good terms with the blonde mage, and Gray decided to start things off with one of his favorite moves. He simply fired five large ice shards from his hands, and they headed straight towards Lucy.

However, she had confidence in her brown eyes while proceeding to evade all of Gray's attacks. Lucy thought about using the book right off the bat, but she smiled confidently while having a little plan. She pulled out the golden key of Aquarius from her brown pouch, opening the Gate of the Water Bearer, and the blue-haired spirit was summoned. Despite now being here, she looked utterly miffed at the fact that Lucy had requested her presence in a place where there was no water around for her to use. Really, why summon Aquarius on a street of bakery stores?

It was true that there was no water in the Bakery District, since most of the chefs had been relying on magic to make food look and taste good, but Lucy was smart. She knew that using the blue spell book's Water Magic in a combination with the powers of Aquarius would get the job done, and the blonde girl proceeded to use the Aqua Ball spell in a way to retaliate against Gray for trying to get a few early strikes at her. Lucy knew that the first spell took a few moments to work, but she also knew that its effects were really nothing to laugh about. She used the first spell of Water Magic, only to discover something interesting. It had really taken her by surprise, since the spell book began to glow with azure blue lights shining from the next page of Water Magic, and it seemed like the book was telling her to use a new version of this attack. (It's similar to the Pokemon games, such as the fact that Hydro Cannon is an upgraded version of Water Gun.)

When Lucy used Aqua Ball, she looked surprised to see that her attack had changed. It was no longer a simple ball of blue water that would pop like a water balloon, but it was a blue ball of water with rings of water spinning around it. It was almost like her attack had evolved, became something new, and Lucy was surprised to see it propel itself from her hand to attack Gray. He jumped out of the way of the attack, grinning a bit when he saw the ball of water simply pop when it hit a bookcase behind him, and Gray laughed a bit. However, he had no idea that this ninth spell would possibly make him cry.

"Is that really the best that you can do? Come on, Lucy. Even Natsu can aim better than that, unless you're trying to fake me out." Gray asked and told her in a calm manner, smiling at the fact that her aim was supposedly off.

She responded nicely while a small smile formed on her lips, noticing something interesting going on behind Gray, "If I were you, I wouldn't celebrate just yet. Let's just say that water has its ways of sneaking up on you, Gray, and it's always good for spells to have a few little tricks."

Lucy pointed to the wall behind Gray, and he looked shocked to see that all of the water on the wall and the door of a bakery shop had begun to stretch outward while detaching itself from whatever it had come into contact with. The Aqua Ball spell divided itself into five Aqua Balls, and they all came towards Gray at high speeds. He dodged each of them, jumping around to try and get out of their way, and Lucy could also control the path of all her projectiles with her left index finger. Judging by how the Aqua Balls were bouncing off of whatever they touched, tilting like crazy while they kept gaining speed, this ninth spell would have to be known as Aqua Pinball.

She accidentally bent her left index finger gently, causing five large blue blasts of Water Magic to transpire around Gray, and the blonde mage screamed in pure shock at this move's power. He took notice of her being distracted right now, and Gray ran towards Lucy while he prepared to end this with Ice-Make: Ice Bringer. He made two swords of ice appear in his hands, ready to slash at Lucy in a cross-pattern, and he looked totally ready to win this. However, Gray suddenly found himself having to stop in his tracks when he found the ground to be a bit slippery. He turned his head to see that Lucy's five blasts of Water Magic had made most of the pavement wet, which was perfect for to now create twenty Aqua Pinballs.

Gray kept running towards her while she had to take the time to create them, and he ended up stabbing Lucy in her stomach with one of his swords. She gasped in shock while some blood poured from her stomach, obviously having her guard down, but this close proximity between the two fighters caused Lucy to have an idea. She wouldn't use the powers of Aquarius just yet, but Lucy would use the evolved forms of her basic spells. Judging by how Aqua Ball had an upgraded version, it was quite possible that the other spells had some cool evolved forms as well.

She used the tenth spell, Aqua Spongy Shuriken, and this spell allowed Lucy to jump high into the air while ten small bubbles of water were now on her fingers. They grew larger while taking in more water from the puddles that had been leftover from the blue blasts, and the bubbles reshaped themselves into blue shuriken. Gray looked puzzled by what she had done next, thinking that she would be aiming at him, but Lucy threw her ten projectiles at the twenty Aqua Pinballs that she had conjured up! They had all been hit by the ten shuriken many times, and each shuriken had doubled in size with every time that an Aqua Pinball or its drops of water were struck. This had been a really nifty spell, especially with even the smallest drops of water being absorbed, and this process repeated itself for a few minutes to take in all of the water.

When it was over, Gray found himself looking shocked at the size of the ten shuriken that were all once small enough for him to evade. They had all now grown to a monstrous size, towering over the ice mage while they floated up into the sky, and Gray could presume that ten huge blasts were coming. They would probably obliterate the entire city when they detonated, so he did the only logical thing. Gray used his Ice-Make Magic to try and freeze the large projectiles in large coatings of cold ice but it was too late. Lucy had smiled like she had honed in on something, and simply made a hissing sound with her mouth to command the water to increase its temperature to levels that could break the ice.

Lucy told Aquarius in a confident manner while smirking as her plan now came to fruition, seeing the ice begin to melt rapidly as the hot water began to come down in massive waves from above, "Aquarius, absorb all of those waves into your urn! Take in every last drop, if you can!"

The spirit of water shouted fiercely while angrily looking at Gray, "Anyone who tries to freeze such a vast majority of water will be slammed down by the tidal waves of my fury! Prepare to experience your briny defeat, ice mage!"

Aquarius absorbed all of the enormous waves of water into her urn, having no trouble taking in such a high amount of water, and a blue aura began to surround the body of the water spirit. She smirked a bit while definitely feeling the enormous chain power of Lucy's Water Magic, and the Celestial Spirit also took notice of her owner's blue book beginning to shine in accordance with the aura. Lucy began to glare at Gray while focusing on her emotions, building them all up into one huge shot to give some more power to her twelfth spell. (I know that I skipped the eleventh spell, but it is merely for a finishing move.)

She unleashed Super Scalding Shot, and this was the evolved form of the spell that was fired as a scalding and spiraling blue beam of water from her mouth. Instead of just being a beam of hot water, however, it was now a large vortex of hot water that could possibly rival the power of Shelly's advanced spells. Gray looked surprised to see so much steam surrounding the attack, implying that he would literally be in hot water soon, but the ice mage looked even more surprised to see that Lucy fired the spell at the urn being held by Aquarius. The hot water was easily absorbed into the urn, and the blue aura surrounding the body of Aquarius began to distend. Gray had to wonder what Lucy was up to, since her attention was now away from him.

Lucy had remembered the time that she had first fought against Shelly, most of her attacks being negated while Shelly's attacks made her feel so much pain, and the blonde girl narrowed her cocoa brown eyes while taking a page from her rival's book. Aquarius had already absorbed two powerful spells that were merged together, glad to have a third move enter her urn, and things were about to get hectic. Using the chain power for one spell was pretty dangerous, but using so much chain power for three spells? What kind of explosive idea had Lucy come up with? She could feel that something amazing was happening inside of the urn, and the power inside of it was going to help her win this match.

By this point, Gray was looking pretty impatient. He had wanted to fight Marina for the chance to expose Team Aqua Kyogre as the cheaters that they were, since they really had been bunch of jerks during the Grand Magic Games, but Lucy had to come along and ruin that for him. The ice mage simply used his magic to create a large arm out of ice, and he lunged the massive closed fist at Lucy. This attack would not only hit her very hard, but it would also freeze her. This attack was known as Ice-Make: Frozen Fist, by the way. Lucy looked shocked at the enormous size of this attack, but she absolutely could not let her confidence waver now.

When Gray's Frozen Fist came mere inches away from Lucy and Aquarius, the blonde mage now became fierce while she told her Celestial Spirit to unleash all of her water at full power. Aquarius did as instructed, and she nearly became pushed backwards when she unleashed a large spiraling blue beam of scalding hot water. It was at least twenty times larger than Scalding Shot, obviously affected by the chain power of the other spells, and Lucy could definitely feel the intense heat from this evolved attack. It was hot enough to even make Marina supposedly melt, since she had just wanted to see who would win, but this melting teal-haired woman had actually been a Water Clone that transformed into Juvia while obeying orders from the real Marina. Really, was that girl thinking three or four steps ahead?

It smashed right through Gray's Frozen Fist attack, the scalding water having enough power to break down while also melting it down easily because of the chain power increasing the temperature of the heat, and Gray looked pretty scared when he noticed how this spell also had increased greatly in speed. He tried to run away from it, but Lucy's spell was way too fast. It had all of its power focused into one point, and Gray could feel the boiling hot heat of the attack getting closer to him. Would Lucy be the one to beat now, instead of Marina?

As the black-haired male was running away, Lucy jumped high into the air and used the eleventh spell known as Sapphire Shell Slam. This spell made three puddles of water solidify to take the forms of three small blue Koopa shells, and each one had a large blue aura surrounding it. The aura was sent into Lucy's Super Scalding Shot to strengthen its attack power even further while the blue Koopa shells were kicked lightly by Lucy for them to all start homing in on Gray. Unlike their weaker forms, however, the shells grew with distance. They grew to being half the size of Super Scalding Shot, and the first two shells had exploded in miniature light blue blasts when Gray threw ice shards at them. They had left behind tons of light blue smoke, though, making it impossible for him to tell where the third one would come from.

He could only scream in terror while Lucy's more major move was mere millimeters away from his face, knowing that a winner had clearly been decided. As all of that hot water had pretty much torn through the steam, the male with dark blue eyes could only gasp in shock as Lucy's final shell was going to hit him straight in the groin. It would've been better for Natsu to take a hard shell to his delicate nuts, but let's just say that Lucy had something more painful in mind for that cheating jerk with a streak of cheating on women who really liked him.

Lucy quickly sent Aquarius back into the Celestial Spirit World, not wanting her to be hit by the result of this attack, and it was a good thing that she had quick thinking. The result of what she could now Explosive Scalding Shot, hence the name, had created quite a massive blast of blue energy to fill the skies. This attack destroyed the remaining pieces of Gray's Frozen Fist, and some of his ice shards had landed on the blue spell book. The street had also become heavily damaged, pieces of the pavement rising from the ground while the nearby buildings were destroyed, and the remaining puddles of water had exploded while creating blue smoke to destroy the debris.

The blonde mage from Sabertooth stood across from a barely conscious and heavily damaged Gray, who had been hurt from directly taking the full power of that final attack, and the explosions had certainly gotten the attention of the other competitors who were walking around Crocus. Lucy smiled a bit at the fact that she had really become stronger, and she was happy to have won a battle against Gray. This victory caused Team Sabertooth to gain five points, a crucial amount of points that had given them a score of 120. However, even though Lucy knew that she was now the winner of the battle, there was still something that she needed to find out.

Lucy asked Gray in a calm manner while she smiled a bit, squatting down to be beside him as he looked straight at her, "Tell me something, Gray. When I was a part of the Fairy Tail guild, did you ever know that Natsu was cheating on me with Lisanna? If you did know, then were you ignoring me like how almost everyone else had been doing?"

He replied in a kind manner, smiling a bit as he was losing consciousness, "I had heard about it, but I didn't think there was much to really care about because of how stupid that flaming idiot can be. I thought that he'd tell you on his own, or even let it slip from his dumb mouth, but I guess that didn't happen. Erza probably didn't tell you, but we're both really sorry for not being there for you when friends were what you needed the most. If Fairy Tail doesn't win, then please take down those guys from Aqua Kyogre. Marina played Natsu for a fool, and that woman you allied with Erza is one of the most notorious villains in Fiore."

As the clone of Lucy ensured Gray that she would do her best while turning into a puddle of water that was going back to the real Lucy, Gray looked frustrated at the fact that Marina had pretty much trolled him by running away. Now that he knew she was a master of disguise, the ice mage could only frown while knowing that Natsu would never fight the real deal. He probably would be spared by her and Shelly, but the other fairies might not be so lucky. As the wind blew past him, Gray looked calm while not even knowing that another clone of his friend was about to go aerial against his rival.

* * *

><p><strong>In a grassy park...<strong>

Lyon and Chelia were facing off against another one of Lucy's clones in one of the grassy fields of the city of Crocus, just like how Gray had been doing. This clone wore a green midriff shirt, a green miniskirt, and some green high heels. She also had a green spell book with her, which clearly meant that she possessed Wind Magic. She looked pretty confident about winning this battle, thinking that she would not exactly have to push too hard for a decent win, but Lucy's clone still knew that it was better to be safe and sorry. After all, based on the type match-ups, could wind possibly defeat ice?

She decided to start off this battle with the first spell of Wind Magic, and it was known as Viridian Tornado. As Lucy had recited this spell, the green book began to shine brightly with light emanating from the pages for the section of Wind Magic. The ninth spell had now been written signaling for her to use it, and it was known as Giga Green Tornado. This move caused eight miniature green tornadoes of wind to float around in a circle while they surrounded the body of the blonde mage. These tornadoes grew larger with the high amount of wind in the area, and Lucy made them all head in eight different directions to be in different corners while forming the shape of an octagon.

Lucy smiled happily at the sight of her tornadoes causing large green blasts of energy to occur when they were all in place, and eight large wind currents headed straight for their master. Not only could these wind currents help Lucy refill her stamina, but they heavily pierced through anything in their way by having the winds slice through all of the objects that were in the way of getting to Lucy. When the winds reached her, they could also form a green sphere of air around the brown-eyed girl to repel almost any attack that would be coming her way. Well, wasn't she certainly learning from Shelly?

Lyon and Chelia both managed to evade Lucy's attacks, taking note of the large green blasts that had transpired before the deadly winds had been created, and Lyon had heard about Gray getting defeated a few moments earlier. He was going to show Lucy the power of a real ice mage, and Lyon was determined to not lose. It was true that spells of Wind Magic would not really damage each other that much, if Lucy were to only be fighting against Chelia right now, but Lyon knew that he had the type advantage because of the fact that ice could always defeat wind. (I know this isn't Pokemon, but just go along with his logic.)

He used his Ice-Make Magic to send a few ice eagles towards Lucy, but she simply let her green sphere of air protect her while his projectiles bounced back at him. Lyon quickly moved out of the way, not wanting to be hit by his own attack, and this opened a way for Lucy to use the tenth spell of Wind Magic. It was known as Aerial Rending Blade, and this spell made brown-eyed girl exhale a deep breath of air while before making a green aura engulf her right hand. Lucy slashed at the air with that hand, creating an invisible wave of air, and this wave grew with distance. It was powerful enough to slice through some giant ice apes that Lyon had created to shield himself, and the air wave had suddenly made a massive blast of green energy occur when Lucy had closed her right hand. The aftermath had made eight waves of air spread out, before converging together over the crater where the snow apes once stood while the winds were explosively hitting Lyon with tremendous force.

Lyon looked baffled at the fact that one of his best attacks had been pierced through so easily, as he saw his icy creations shatter while they fell apart to become melted ice of what they once were, and he did not want to lose in the survival tournament like last year. He still doubted his teamwork with Chelia, but what else could he do? They truly did not have much cohesion in their duo, especially when it was proven last year by the fact that Chelia was distracted by the final attack that was being created by Gray and Juvia, but could they possibly win against a sole enemy?

"I have to admit, she's just as good as the rumors make her out to be." Lyon told Chelia in a calm manner, maintaining his smirk of coolness while knowing that their blonde opponent would eventually run out of magical power.

The pink-haired girl responded while looking confident as well, feeling that they really could win this, "You're right, Lyon. Even though she absorbed my black winds, I really doubt that she can use anything more than Wind Magic. As long as I eat her spells like she ate mine, we can both keep fighting for a long time."

Lucy's eleventh move had been known as Carnival Sky Winds, the spell sounding really weird and comical to Lyon, but there was nothing funny about Lucy narrowing her cocoa brown eyes while she began to look down at the ground. She unleashed a spiraling vortex of green winds from her mouth, letting it be aimed down at the ground, and the blonde girl made the vortex take in air for it to grow much larger. She used its massive amount of energy to propel herself high into the air, safe from any attacks that were on the ground, but Lucy was not entirely invulnerable from taking damage.

Chelia leaped up into the air while having a confident smirk on her face, before using Sky God's Bellow to hit Lucy right in the abdomen, but let's just say that giving force to an aerial user of Wind Magic was a really bad idea. Lucy certainly take Chelia's attack directly, but she used the force of it to send her flying up above the clouds. She couldn't change direction in midair, but she was able to use her final spell to finish this match while her potential energy was at its apex right now. She would definitely make something come down, as she put simple physics into this, but Lucy would not be the object crashing down.

As Lyon wasted no time using his Ice-Make Magic to make ten large serpents that would freeze Lucy when they bit her, before one of them ate her, the blonde mage smiled a bit while her green spell book glowed once more. She activated the twelfth spell known as Cloudy Bomb Cannon, and this move would certainly make physics quite interesting with the help of Wind Magic. Twelve clouds in the sky fused together to form one large cloud, and that cloud began to turn emerald green before it released a large gust of wind that sucked up its targets! All ten of the large ice serpents went into the cloud, before it imploded to make a spherical emerald green blast of energy transpire in the sky. The side effect of this spell had made meteor-shaped balls of air come down from the sky, and they gained tons of power and speed on their way down to the ground.

When the projectiles hit the ground, massive green blasts of Wind Magic had transpired! They were heavily damaging the park, striking every single part of it, and many huge craters were being made in the earth while rocks were rising into the air. One of the bombs had struck the spot where Lyon had been standing, making him get caught in the blast, and many bombs had struck Chelia while she fell down to the ground. As the bombs kept coming down, their tremendous force making the two mages from Lamia Scale be defeated, Lucy's clone for Wind Magic knew that her work was done here. She vanished into the wind, knowing that Team Sabertooth now had ten more points.

In a few moments, the emerald green bombs had stopped falling down from the sky while the large cloud had vanished. The smoke cleared up to reveal that Lyon was now badly damaged like Gray, not even able to move his head upward, and the male with white hair lost consciousness while seeing that Chelia was heavily wounded from taking such a vicious attack. She was also unresponsive, meaning that two people from Lamia Scale were now out of the game, and let's just say that the smog from this attack would lead right in to another fight that was about to begin somewhere else.

* * *

><p><strong>15 minutes later...<strong>

While a Lacrima Vision screen had appeared up in the air again, now showing Lucy's epic use of physics that helped her win against Lyon and Chelia, Mira and Lisanna were now walking down a street that had many merchant shops on it. They were all selling different fruits that were native to the country of Hoenn, a tropical country that was far south of Fiore, and Lisanna was eating a Liechi Berry that had fallen off an unoccupied stand. Eating food off of the ground could be seen as gross, but it wasn't like anyone in Fairy Tail forgot about the five-second rule.

The fruit surely was sweet, a great contrast from the sour way that the white-haired girl would act towards the guy who was now her ex-boyfriend, and Lisanna just wanted to give Natsu a proper beating for how he had been cheating on her with Marina. She had never thought that he would betray her in such a filthy way, giving pleasure to a girl that had been Fairy Tail's most recent rookie, and Lisanna would demand to know when it all started. Really, there was a lot of irony in her wanting to know when Natsu was going behind her back.

It's not that Lisanna did not have feelings, since she had every right to feel pretty bad about being thrown out like a piece of garbage, but was this not a familiar situation? It was pretty much karma for the blue-eyed girl, mainly because she started this whole story after last year's Grand Magic Games had ended, and she truly had no right coming in between Lucy's love for Natsu. They had been a pretty happy couple, until she had gotten in the way of their love and filled Natsu's heart with her gentle feelings of love. Payback was like a metal boomerang covered in spikes, and it certainly struck Lisanna right in the butt.

Speaking of being struck, it really seemed like Lisanna's days of bad karma were now getting started. As she and Mira were walking down the street, both looking calm on a street where no one else would possibly be, a pulsating wave of energy quickly reached the girls while it resulted in a large purple blast of energy being created! Mira looked utterly shocked while she was sent flying into the air with Lisanna, neither of the girls thinking that anyone would really be trying to attack any of the members from Fairy Tail's secondary team, and they both had to wonder if those rotten punks from Team Aqua Kyogre were now trying to make trouble around them.

Lisanna quickly went into her Animal Soul: Harpy Take-Over to grab Mira by the straps of her pink dress, only to see that the rocks that had been lifted into the air oddly had a purple aura surrounding them while they were frozen in midair, and the rocks began to detonate into large purple blasts of Darkness Magic! Mira screamed in pain from the explosive attacks, since they had been set off to fast for her to use any of the Satan Soul forms that she could transform into, and Lisanna also became wounded by the powerful blasts. An intense amount of gravity sent the duo falling down to the street at a very fast rate, crashing into the ground, but who was the one attacking them?

As a large cloud of purple smoke engulfed Mira and Lisanna, a certain female voice told them in a calm tone, "Well, if it isn't my ex-friends from the guild of Fairy Tail. I saw Natsu's little film that was shown to almost everyone in the city last night, and it's really no surprise that he'd stoop so low. However, it was interesting to see that he threw away one affair for another affair. Just like last time, even though I don't really care about it, the selfish bitch is blamed for making the stupid idiot cheat while the girl with the poor judgement has to wallow in sadness and look for a way out of the trashy mess. She never even saw it coming, so that should ring a few bells for you."

Upon hearing her voice, Lisanna gasped in shock while knowing that it clearly belonged to Lucy. As the smoke began to fade away, no longer obscuring the blonde girl from the view of the Strauss sisters, Lucy's presence had also taken Mira by surprise. She did not expect to ever be targeted in such a brutal way by the girl with cocoa brown eyes, nor did she ever think that Lucy could ever give such a cold speech of hate towards Lisanna. Lucy had every right to be glad that Natsu had cheated on her, and the ninth spell of Darkness Magic known as Fantôme Impulsion had really shown how this revenge against Lisanna was long overdue.

The white-haired mage could only reply in an ashamed manner, really wanting to give Lucy a very decent apology, "Natsu and I were going to tell you about how we were in love, Lucy, but we knew that you would freak out about it. Natsu and I became closer, falling in love with each other, and I'm sorry that he no longer cared about you. It's all our fault that you had to go through hell with no friends by your side, even having people pretty much betray you, and we never would've left the doors to the Fairy Tail guild open if you were going to see us kissing. I know that you're bitter and angry towards me, but I'm in hell as well because Natsu cheated on me to be with Marina. She stole him from me."

Before Lisanna could think of anymore words to say, Lucy shut her mouth by angrily telling her that she was nothing more than a hypocrite for saying that Marina stole Natsu from her. Lisanna had actually made Natsu cheat on Lucy, making the blonde mage have possible thoughts of suicide, and no one had ever tried to help her out. She told Lisanna to not even try apologizing to her, since she made moves towards Natsu when he was with Lucy, and Lisanna actually had people to lift her heart up when the rest of her was feeling down. Lucy had nobody to help her because of Natsu and Lisanna telling the other guild members to leave Lucy blind about any outside trouble that would infect her relationship with Natsu, so she told Lisanna to not even act like a victim in romance when she assisted Natsu in being a stabber at one point.

This was another reason for Lucy to side with Shelly from Aqua Kyogre, since they both had a common set of foes, but even siding with the darkness wasn't enough to satisfy Lucy's dark desire for revenge. She used the tenth spell of Darkness Magic, and it was known as Hexing Ritual. This spell made six purple flames surround Mirajane in the six corners of a hexagon while she tried to crawl away when she thought that this was the time to run away with Lisanna, but the six flames quickly converged in on the white-haired woman to cover her in fire! It was not doing damage to her skin like normal fire would, but these flames prevented Mira from using any magic for six hours. She stood up quickly to take off her pink dress, stripping down to an orange bikini that showed off most of her cleavage, and Mira felt utterly exhausted while falling back down to the ground.

Her magical power had been reduced to zero, thanks to those flames, and Lisanna could only cower in fear while Lucy had a sadistic smirk on her face. She was about to use the next spell, but the brown-eyed mage pulled out the Celestial Spirit Key for summoning Aries. She called out the pink-haired spirit onto the field, hearing her apologize for not being able to be of much use for offense in this situation, but Lucy did not need her nice spirit to attack Lisanna. She read the eleventh spell while the purple book in her left hand began to glow once more, and this move was known as Darkness Luster.

It caused Lucy's body to be engulfed in a violet aura, since this was the evolved version of Dark Fireworks, and this spell caused Lucy to shoot out a purple beam from her left hand. The beam went straight up into the air, before bursting into seven smaller beams, and they were all homing in on Lisanna. She used some of her remaining strength to go into her Animal Soul: Tigress Take-Over, gaining the speed to dodge the attacks at the last second, and Lisanna had a smile of relief on her face while she looked at the massive purple blast that possibly could've killed her.

However, dodging one attack did not mean that Lisanna was safe. She made her claws slice the air to see through the smoke, even as it slowly faded away, and Lucy had now distanced herself from the white-haired mage. She was not planning to run away, based on how that smirk on her face still remained, and Lucy decided to end this conflict with Lisanna. It would not end on a note of peace, however, and the twelfth spell of Darkness Magic would leave Lisanna screaming for Lucy to show some mercy. It was known as Dark Spirit's Shadow Claw.

This spell caused Lucy to raise her left hand into the air again, making it resemble a claw, and she slammed her left hand down on the ground to produce a jet of purple flames that headed straight for Lisanna. The blue-eyed girl thought that the flames would be like the ones from Lucy's tenth spell, since they did not hurt Mira, and she would be glad to lose a battle by having all of her magical power reduced to zero. However, Lucy was not going to let her finishing move go down in such an uncool way. With distance, the flames would grow in size while also increasing in speed. When the first flame in the line made contact with Natsu's most recent ex, an extremely massive purple blast of Darkness Magic had transpired! Aries had shielded Lucy with a large pink wall of wool, though, so she was okay.

It was powerful enough to obliterate the merchant shops, as well as the buildings around them, and hearing another huge blast made some of the remaining competitors wonder about who was acting like a total psycho in this event. The pavement was now totally broken up, even the rubble of the buildings getting torn down by the power of the blast, and Lucy inhaled all of the smoke because it did have the side effect of poisoning whoever would be foolish enough to breathe it in. She would not be poisoned by breathing in her magic, so she was safe from any harm.

Now that Lisanna and Mira were both knocked out, as well as being unconscious from the amount of power that had been slammed down on them, Lucy had definitely won this match. She had gained ten more points for Team Sabertooth, bringing them to a total of 140 points in this tournament. Now that this clone's job was done, she simply smirked while looking down at her purple spaghetti shirt with a black miniskirt to match. She also wore some purple high heels to match, and this clone vanished into a puff of white smoke to make her job come to end while Aries was sent back to the Celestial Spirit World.

* * *

><p><strong>Meanwhile, near the library...<strong>

Sting and Lector had finally made it to the area outside the library, the same place where Lucy and Shelly had taken down the mighty Erza Scarlet, and the white dragon slayer could see his girlfriend up ahead. She was sternly staring down Shelly while seeing all of the destruction that her clones had created, not seeming too pleased by the fact that she looked like a psycho maniac, and it was quite possible that the dark power still needed to be adjusted to its own section in the spell book. It had merged with the other types of magic, possibly for only temporary power-ups in a sadistic manner, and Lucy had only been following her rival's suggestions on which types of magic to let out into solo missions right now.

Of course, even if Lucy had sent out all three clones of herself at the same time, the spell book would only allow one clone to use its respective type of magic until its battle was done or if the clone was taken down. After all, it would be unfair for Lucy to be godly like Erza Scarlet when she requipped into that illogical Nakagami Armor. Just because she was winning in fights right now, that did not mean Lucy was super powerful. She had only been taking out the weak opponents right now, and the lower number of inferior mages meant that a higher level of difficulty could be reached.

As he could guess that Shelly had noticed him, turning around to face the white dragon slayer and his cat, Sting could only give her a pretty stern look about what she had done. He did not approve of Shelly giving dark power to Lucy, seeing that it had pretty malicious effects on the blonde girl and her clones, and Sting also refused to have his lovely girlfriend be in the guild of Aqua Kyogre. Plus, he had really wanted to put Shelly in her place for how she had tried to kiss him when they first crossed paths. Sting knew that Shelly and her guild members were pretty shady, so what harm could there possibly be in breaking an alliance?

Not wanting the tanned woman to try and force Lucy into joining a dark guild, Sting ran towards Shelly with the intent to attack her. He was going to try and end her in one fell swoop with White Dragon's Holy Nova, only to be interrupted by Chapati giving the announcement of Mira and Lisanna being taken down by Lucy. The Lacrima Vision screen was not put up into the sky, possibly because Lucy's clone was no longer at the scene of the fight, and her victory was good news for Shelly. With the fairies being taken out so easily, they would not really be able to stand in the way of Sabertooth winning.

When Sting was about to hit her with his large attack, Shelly simply dodged to the left before she proceeded to pull him into a warm embrace. She exhaled a soft breath of air on to his left cheek, making it feel warmer, and the black-haired woman softly whispered some words of seduction into Sting's left ear. She told him how it would be fun if they could bathe alone in the hot spring when this was all over, pushing her breasts up against his chest, and Shelly gently moved her left hand around to Sting's abs for her to feel how hard they were. He still had no trust in this alliance, not even a kiss being able to make him trust Shelly, and Lucy wanted to beat the crap out of her right now.

"Tell me, my sweet Sting. Why is it that you have no trust in a lovely woman like me? Your little Lucy has carried you so far, even having my help for your guild to win battles while she has gotten new magic, yet what flaw do I have that makes you look past my brains, brawn, and beauty? Do you want to surrender like a little puppy, since you did that last year, or do you love Lucy enough for us to maintain our alliance? After everyone else is out, I could just take the book and kill her if you want to see the dismantling of our alliance. Wouldn't a kiss seem better for you, from either her or me?" Shelly asked and explained in a curious manner, moving her left hand up to his neck to gently caress it while she smirked seductively.

Sting explained to her in a calm manner as he narrowed his blue eyes, leaving her embrace while he cared more for Lucy, "I don't trust you, Shelly, and it's because you're an infamous thief. You're a dark mage on the Top 10 list of criminals in Fiore, you tried to make my sweet girlfriend join your guild, and I hate how you try to kiss me when you clearly know that Lucy is the love of my life. She's like the beautiful pink cherry blossoms on a tree when they smell so sweet while looking nice, but you only have beauty while that farting habit of yours is making me wonder if large and spicy bean burritos are the only food in Aqua Kyogre!"

As Sting walked away from Shelly, not even wanting to hear how she would react to response, the white dragon slayer was suddenly about to slip on a puddle of water that had been on the ground. He was caught by Lucy before anything bad could happen, but Shelly deviously told Sting that he could not save the blonde girl from what she desired. Not only did she want love, which she had, but Lucy also wanted revenge on Fairy Tail. She wanted to destroy the people who were nothing more than fake friends, and Shelly also told Lucy that no amount of white light could save her from the dark and true feelings that would eventually control her. Lucy looked down in a shocked manner while Shelly laughed evilly, and tears fell from the blonde girl's eyes while Lucy truly knew that she was becoming evil like Shelly.

A Lacrima Vision screen in the air showed Rogue defeating Toby and Yuka from Team Lamia Scale, bringing Team Sabertooth up to a score of 150 points, but Lucy didn't care about that right now. She felt unhappy with the fact that Shelly's dark magic had changed the nature of her spells, making them seem much darker with the intent to kill, and Lucy never wanted the conflict with Natsu or Lisanna to reach that level. As the book released another aura of power, the blonde mage blushed a bit as she suddenly let out a large fart. Sting chuckled in a happy manner from hearing Lucy's trumpet, and Lucy was now reminded that Sting was the one who toughened her up in the first place. He had been acting comical for her while she was so intense, and now it was time for Lucy to be good while thinking like a smart thief to strengthen their relationship. After all, for a girl to take out some powerful rivals, it took the yin and the yang for the power to truly be fired up.

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 25? Did you like it? Sting seems to be pretty worried about Lucy trusting Shelly, but let's just say that he's about to see that the dark magic cannot fuse with everything. There will also be more StiCy, as the elements show their lighter sides. Anyway, will Natsu encounter Marina? What happens when Lucy and Cana meet again? Does Laxus get involved in this story, too? Will Lucy and Shelly finally get their big showdown? Standby for the update, and please leave reviews!<strong>


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 26: Her True Powers...<strong>

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><p>While Lucy and Sting were now both ready to take on Shelly in what would probably be a very great battle for everyone to witness, not even caring if the entire city of Crocus would be destroyed because of a big fight like this one, a certain pink-haired male had been walking around while seeming very pissed off about the current results in this event. He truly was not pleased with the fact that Team Sabertooth now had first place again, meaning that his blonde ex and his blond rival might possibly end up kissing while they would be holding the trophy together, but Natsu was not down for that at all.<p>

He was looking angry at the Lacrima Vision screen that was up in the sky, showing that Sabertooth had just gotten ten more points because of Rogue Cheney taking down Tby and Yuka from Team Lamia Scale, and the fire dragon slayer knew that he could easily beat Rogue in a fight. He had taken him and Sting down in the tag-team battle last year, not even really breaking a sweat while he had been fighting for Lucy, but things had taken a very big turn this year. After all, since Natsu had gone out of his way to cheat on her, it was no surprise that Lucy would try and find comfort in the guild that truly rivaled Fairy Tail.

Natsu could even bet that Lucy wanted to really laugh at him for his flop of not checking the crystal that was in the projector, since the footage of his steamy mornings and nights with Marina from Team Aqua Kyogre had been seen by almost everyone in Crocus, and mainly all of the people in the city were heckling him. Some of them had booed at him while he walked down the street, others even throwing pies filled with bugs at him, and it was funny to see that cheating jerk getting what he truly deserved. After all, a lying user needed to be humiliated in public like the scum that they were.

He never even thought that Lisanna would ever find out about what had been going on behind her back, but it was totally karma for Natsu. He had been so deceitful to Lucy, sneaking around with Lisanna while he would leave the blonde mage all alone in bed for her to feel cold when he wasn't by her side, and fate had simply sent Marina to him as comeuppance for all the lies that he had ever told. Marina had actually kept that specific crystal in the projector on purpose to ruin Natsu's life, ironically still making him think that she was his loving ally, and fooling that guy was easier than finding a common animal like Wurmple on Route 101 of Fiore.

It wasn't like things were not going okay with Lisanna, making Natsu have no real right to cheat on her, but she was just fed up with how he had wanted to beat down Lucy for the times that she had gotten a little bit of payback on him. While it was okay for him to simply say that Fairy Tail would beat Sabertooth again in this year's Grand Magic Games, he did not have to keep telling the entire guild about how crucial it was to take down Lucy. Really, if he was truly not caring about her anymore, then why did her name have to be spoken from his mouth? Also, would it really do any good for Natsu to talk bad about someone who truly did have friends in the guild?

Some people like Gray and Juvia had not even gone along with his plan about keeping his affair from reaching Lucy's ears, mostly because they thought that he would just screw it all up on his own, and even the Rain Woman felt bad about her love rival leaving the guild of Fairy Tail forever. Some people had really hated the fact that they couldn't say anything to Lucy, possibly because of the theory that she was sensitive and would cause tons of drama while crying hysterically, but having the guts to say something was much better than saying nothing at all.

As Natsu walked by the hot springs of Crocus, not even knowing where he was going, his nose picked up on the lovely scent of blackberries. He smiled at the fact this was a great smell, the odor of his beloved girlfriend, and Natsu followed his nose to find his teal-haired lover. Having Marina by his side would be really fun, especially if he could show Gajeel that he had gotten Marina without any luck, but Natsu still had no idea that he was being played like a sap. He smiled happily while using his Fire Dragon's Roar to burn a gaping hole in the bamboo fence, ready to peep in on his lover's bare body, only to clumsily fall into the water when he passed through the hole.

"Well, it looks like someone wants to have a peek at me while I'm enjoying this nice bath in the hot spring. Hello there, my oblivious and goofy Natsu. It would be very nice if you came here for a hot and steamy soak with me, my love, and I would even wash your back for you while kissing it as well. Just let the hot water relax you, my Natsu, and I assure you that we will have no need to fight each other." Marina told Natsu in a sweet tone while smiling in a caring manner, as a blue towel was around her body while she relaxed in the boiling water.

Natsu replied in a calm manner while rising up to the surface, smiling happily as he began to blush from the fact that his face was right near the front of her towel, "I could never fight you, Marina, and you're more of a woman than Lisanna ever could be. You're so sexy, full of charm, and your kisses feel like heaven to me. People in Fairy Tail have been saying how you're all a bunch of bad jerks, but I don't see how you could be a villain. They shouldn't judge you for going over to Aqua Kyogre, even though it is a dark guild, but you're so warm and good in bed."

He was truly infatuated by her beauty, letting her blackberry perfume fill his nose with the smell of delight, and that truly was no ordinary perfume. From the very first moment that Natsu had taken a whiff of Marina, he had become smitten with her. His mind would go into a daze that felt loving like a dream, and all that he could ever think about was the teal-haired girl who had made him become attracted to her. Natsu's love for Marina had definitely grown, especially during the days where she had nursed him back to health, and he loved to see her get naughty for him. She would even bite his chest softly, making him feel good, but it was no surprise that Natsu would fabricate stories to Lisanna about a cat biting him every day when she wanted to know how he kept getting bite marks on his body.

As the fire dragon slayer was about to kiss his girlfriend, ready to get her towel off while they were in the hot spring, Natsu felt a certain needle strike him in the abdomen. It was actually Marina using a small spell known as Aqua Dart, and this simply let Marina make a tranquilizer dart out of water to knock out her opponents. She did tell Natsu that they would not be fighting, and it wouldn't be fun for her to fight naked. After all, she would have to kill him for any burn marks that would be on her body. Marina had gained 5 more points for Team Aqua Kyogre, making Makarov look frustrated at how stupid Natsu could be, and even Gajeel saw this coming.

The iron dragon slayer looked up at the Lacrima Vision screen to see Natsu falling asleep while he was in Marina's arms, and she sunk down into the warm water with him while smirking evilly. The charms from women were something that did not really get to Gajeel, since they had just annoyed him greatly, and that's why he liked Levy for being so quiet. She was also very kind while not even trying to seduce him, and that's why Gajeel could tolerate her. He could even hear her cheering his name while he beat down Shelly's three pawns from Aqua Kyogre, defeating them quickly in the donut shop, and Gajeel gained 15 more points for Team Fairy Tail A.

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><p><strong>At the same time, in another part of Crocus...<strong>

Cana had crossed paths with a clone of Lucy while she was looking for enemies, shocked to see the blonde girl wielding an orange book while she wore an orange tube top with some orange sweat shorts, and Lucy also did not wear any shoes. She totally looked ready to work out at a gym, possibly going to do 100 push-ups for her to reach Shelly's level of strength, and Cana knew that she had not interacted with Lucy in a while. Mintochoko Town was the last place where they had a conversation, not really ending on a good note, and the card mage truly was sorry for what she had done to Lucy back in Fairy Tail.

She had never meant to leave Lucy in the dark about the fact that Natsu had been cheating on her with Lisanna, especially since a real true friend would never let their best friend go through heartbreak all alone, and Cana really felt bad about letting Lucy's feelings get hurt. She could've told her sooner, ignoring the fact that Lucy might possibly freak out or break down in sadness, but it was always better to let out the horrible emotions with a friend than go through it all alone while letting the anger and misery make her become a vicious person who had the intent to kill whoever broke her heart. (There is so much regret in this tale of romance, is there?)

As the brown-haired woman took a few steps forward, walking softly to not make Lucy get scared, the blonde-haired girl told her in a fierce tone while turning around, "Hello, Cana. I hope that you're ready for a good battle with me, and we're going to work out while I take you down! We were friends at one point, but then you put a knife in my back while not even caring about how I felt! You watched Natsu and Lisanna date for seven months now, so much time that you let me be led on by that jerk, and now we're enemies."

"Look, Lucy. I truly am sorry for not being your friend when you needed someone by your side, and it makes me sad to see that you've been taking us all out because you want payback. That won't make any of us happy, and the Fairy Tail guild imploded when you left. So many people have conflicts with Natsu while other people hate Lisanna, and even someone as mighty as Erza couldn't calm the storm. I hope that you really didn't kill her." Cana replied in an apologetic manner, even though she gave Lucy a scolding look for how she and Shelly had battled against Erza.

That last part of her speech had made Lucy narrow her cocoa brown eyes, knowing that she had to take out Erza for some payback, and the blonde girl clenched her left fist tightly while biting down on her lower lip. While she also wanted some love, Lucy had also had a drive for some more power. She could now see another reason why it always seemed like the triangle of herself, Sting, and Shelly had kept occurring. It was almost like Sting was her romantic motive, always giving her the best love while they would train together, and Shelly was like her new best friend that supplied her with power. Good and evil did work well together, as it seemed, and Lucy would demonstrate her power.

She opened the orange spell book to unleash the ninth spell of Earth Magic, and it was known as Earth Punch. An orange aura engulfed her left fist while she ran towards Cana, and Lucy quickly struck her right in the face with her fist. She could feel her power increasing from that punch being a success, and she lightly punched Cana two more times. It did not matter if the punch was soft, since every hit on an enemy would double Lucy's attack power, and now her punches were eight times stronger than normal. She did not even let Cana look at up her, simply hitting her in the chest with full force, and the card mage was sent flying into a building from that massive punch!

The energy from Lucy's fist had made a large orange blast of Earth Magic transpire, making some people like Orga wonder what the psycho expert with explosions was doing now, and Lucy growled angrily at the sight of Cana standing up while seeming unscathed. Before she had crashed into the building, Cana had used a Shield Card to simply make a gray sphere of energy surround her to protect her from damage. She hopefully had many of those, since Lucy's wrath was really not something that a person could simply laugh about. Deciding to now attack, Cana looked stern while pulling out one card from her deck.

This card caused the violet-eyed mage to send a large vortex of flames towards Lucy, fairy certain that it would hit her and burn her to a crisp, but Lucy quickly activated the tenth spell in the orange book. It was called Quicksand Mud, and the effects were easily implied by the name. Well, this spell actually caused the ground to break apart while it also started turning brown. The ground turned into mud, and Cana's flames sunk down into it. She looked shocked to see the mud consume her flames with ease, before the earth repaired itself quickly to provide more intact ground for Lucy to use. Really, were the spells in this book not what anyone would want?

Cana knew that beating Lucy would not be easy, but she also did not expect someone who used such fierce power to have the ability of creating strategies so quickly. She activated a Lightning Card, in an effort to make lightning come down from the sky and strike Lucy, but Cana was shocked to see that her blonde opponent had activated the eleventh spell. It was known as Earth Dome, and this spell made many large rocks surround Lucy to form a barrier around her. Cana's lightning could not break past the dense earth, and Lucy's dome split into many floating rocks with an orange aura surrounding every single one of them.

"I guess that it's about time for me to and try combine two advanced spells together, Cana, and I could create something pretty powerful from this next spell. It may leave you crying or crushed, but those are the consequences of being a traitor to someone who was always there for you. We really could've been great friends, but you chose to follow the plans of Natsu and Lisanna. It's quite sad how you also try to fight me, knowing that you can't beat me or Shelly." Lucy explained to her in a calm tone, before giggling a bit at what she had conjured up for her final move.

Seeing the rocks floating in midair, Lucy could command some of them to come down for her to lightly punch them a few times with her left fist. This hand was still under the effects of Earth Punch, meaning that its power would double with every hit, and this fist had passed its power on to the rocks that Lucy was hitting. They were becoming more powerful as well, having more density, and Lucy ordered her rocks to charge at Cana with full force! While this would be a big way to end it, Cana smirked a bit while she was about to use another Shield Card to hardly even feel the damage of this massive attack.

However, she did not expect Lucy to come running at her with such a high amount of speed! She had turned all of the energy from Earth Punch into an orange aura that engulfed her body, and Lucy's physical strength had tremendously risen. She quickly slid down to the ground, before delivering a harsh kick to Cana's abdomen, and th brown-haired woman screamed in fear from realizing that Lucy also caused her cards to be knocked out of her hands. She could only close her eyes while she was about to collide with the powerful rocks from Lucy's twelfth spell, and it was known as Explosive Earthy Demise.

When Cana had made the slightest amount of contact with one of the rocks, one of many massive orange blasts could be seen and heard in Crocus. They had even shook the ground, causing some pretty serious quakes, but two Wizard Saints like Jellal and Jura were the only ones who knew that they weren't creating this much magical energy while they had been fighting each other. Some people were screaming their names, thinking that they were making such huge blasts, but even Jura's Rumbling Mt. Fuji attack could not stand up to Lucy's earthy blasts. Makarov and Mavis could also guess that Cana was dead, since 50 massive blasts of Earth Magic could do some intense damage.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile...<strong>

In a different part of Crocus, in front of a few fancy boutique shops, Laxus Dreyar from Team Fairy Tail A was going up against Orga Nanagear from Team Sabertooth. The lightning dragon slayer was getting ready to go up against the lightning god slayer once again, and both men were ready for this rematch. Laxus and Orga were also respectively cloaked in yellow lightning and black lightning, which would probably make this become a really shocking match for anyone to witness. Who would emerge victorious, especially in a battle that could truly electrify Crocus?

Orga smirked arrogantly while staring down his blond rival, and the green-haired male decided to start things off by trying to attack Laxus with his Black Lightning Sphere. This sphere was formed almost instantaneously, completely engulfing Laxus inside of it before he could even react, but the lightning dragon slayer simply broke through the Black Lightning Sphere with his Lightning Dragon's Roar. The collision of the two attacks created a black blast of lightning, which was subsequently followed by a yellow blast of lightning, but neither of the males were harmed.

The smoke quickly cleared up to reveal that the attacks had been on equal level with each other, much to Orga's surprise, and he looked a bit frustrated while charging up his Lightning God's Charged Particle Cannon to quickly end this. The black lightning in this attack could vaporize almost anything when it came into contact with solid objects, and it also had a high amount of destructive power. As Orga was building up an immense amount of power for his finishing move, Laxus smiled confidently while knowing that he was probably fast enough to evade it.

However, as Orga was finished charging up his Lightning God's Charged Particle Cannon and fired it straight at Laxus, something strange would soon give them both a shock. Orga's attack had hit something immediately, not even hitting Laxus, and the smoke quickly cleared up to reveal that one of Lucy's clones had arrived on the scene. She was carrying the yellow spell book, clearly representing the Lightning Magic that had been gained from fighting against Courtney in the amusement park, and her sudden appearance really surprised Orga. Lucy wore a yellow top with a black miniskirt, looking fashionable as always, and her flat shoes were yellow.

Laxus had recently seen Lucy take out Mirajane and Lisanna in a part of the city that was far away from where him and Orga were located, and a Lacrima Vision screen quickly appeared in the sky to show Lucy's clone with Earth Magic turning into mud while Cana was buried under a pile of rubble. Since Lucy had defeated Cana so easily, she gained five more points for Team Sabertooth. This left Juvia and Jellal as the only active competitors left for Team Fairy Tail B, but people still did not even know that "Juvia" was really Marina in disguise. Natsu had simply encountered a clone that dropped him in a lake of Crocus while she warped through the water, so Aqua Kyogre was definitely a guild full of trolls.

He had not really looked at the color of her spell book, but the non-spell ability of Lightning Magic could make Lucy move at lightning speed. This clone had presumably come all the way over here to fight against Laxus, but could she possibly win? Even with evolved spells, Lightning Magic probably would not do much to a Lightning Dragon Slayer. It would probably not even faze Orga, either, since a Lightning God Slayer could eat all kinds of lightning. This battle would probably be very long, or there would be the chance of it ending up in a big stalemate. Lightning was a very quick thing, so it really did not waste time.

"What are you doing here, Lucy? I can definitely handle this, you know. This time, Laxus is going to go down." Orga asked and told her in a rather confident manner, smirking while he saw Laxus grin at both him and Lucy.

Lucy responded in a kind manner, having a smile of courage on her face while strength had made its way into her cocoa brown eyes, "Don't worry about me interrupting your battle, Orga. I never said that I would come here to fight Laxus. I'm actually going to use my spells here, mainly because of the architecture in this part of the city. I'm not going to get myself involved in the battle that you have with Laxus, and it truly would just end up being a waste of my time to take five points from Fairy Tail. Besides, it's more fun to see lights filling up other parts of Crocus."

Her unorthodox motive for being here in the survival tournament certainly made Laxus look pretty curious, and he even wondered what she was going to do while she had pulled out the Celestial Spirit Key of Loke. She opened the Gate of The Lion, summoning the orange-haired spirit, and he smiled confidently while being happy enough to assist the owner of his key with whatever task needed to be done. Loke could tell that Lucy's main focus was not directed at Laxus or Orga, so there was no need to fight.

Lucy started things off by using the ninth spell known as Electric Volt Curve, causing her to shoot a large beam of lightning out of her left hand, and it headed straight for a building. When the attack hit the side of the building, it immediately made a sharp left curve to hit another building. The beam curved once again, hitting a potted plant, and it kept curving around while it hit four more objects in a perfect zigzag pattern to look like a bolt of lightning. A yellow aura also began to surround everything that had been hit, and the chain power of Electric Volt Curve made the spell become bigger and faster. It was also stronger, too.

The large and fast lightning beam for the Electric Curve spell had propelled itself high into the air, right before it could hit the ground to make a massive blast of electricity occur, and this part of Lucy's plan is where Loke had a role. He had an important task to do, and he smiled proudly while using his Regulus Beam attack. This move made Loke release a beam of light from his ring, and he shot it straight up into the sky. He actually shot it at the Electric Volt Curve spell, and his light was spiraling around Lucy's lightning to give it some extra power.

With that step out of the way, Lucy felt more confidence entering her heart while she began to think of Sting. She was going to win this tournament for him, definitely planning to see him smile when Sabertooth would be announced as the best guild in Fiore, and Lucy was definitely not going to lose to anyone. She planned to put an end to this, and the tenth spell known as Electric Voltage Vortex would definitely assist her in reaching the fine goal of achieving success. How would this electrified plan of hers work, though, and would the lightning have perfect precision?

She called upon the power of the Electric Vortex spell, putting all of her emotions into it while the yellow spell book began to glow, and this move caused a massive vortex of yellow lightning to be fired straight from her mouth. It began to follow the zigzag pattern that had been created by Electric Curve, destroying every single building or object that had a yellow aura surrounding it, and every link in the chain caused Electric Voltage Vortex to grow much bigger. It also became much stronger and faster, and the attack flew upward into the air to join forces with Electric Volt Curve and Regulus Beam.

When all three attacks had made contact with each other, fusing together to create something totally new and possibly amazing, all of the clouds in the sky became dark while they proceeded to swirl over the city of Crocus. This sudden darkness over the flowery capital of Fiore even made Jellal wonder what was going on, since he hadn't even cast Sema yet. Even Rufus looked surprised by what was happening, thinking that the battle between Laxus and Orga must've been intense, but he did not know that Lucy's clone was with them. What would be the result of her unorthodox ways?

In a few moments, at the snap of Lucy's fingers, a massive Electric Voltage Vortex emerged from the sky! It was twice the size of Lucy's original electrical vortex, and Loke's light had caused the large attack to have more of a golden color instead of being yellow. Laxus and Orga could sense the tremendous amount of magical power coming from this spell, and Orga had even given it a new name. As he saw it shoot a homing beam of lightning from its center, precisely hitting the target of Lucy's desire, the intense thunder waves temporarily paralyzed him and Laxus. He called this move Electrically Explosive Paralyzing Light, since it was also extremely bright.

The vortex of electricity had followed the path of its homing beam, about to create a massive explosion when it would come down upon its target, and the city was going to end up being destroyed more than ever. None of the electricity was going to hit the Domus Flau, since all of the spectators were there for the purpose of safety from being harmed in the event, and Courtney Kagari from the guild known as Magma Groudon had also been watching from the stands. She was smirking a bit while being really impressed to see the evolved lightning from the girl who had defeated her, and she unknowingly stood next to Runo. The brown-haired woman folded her arms while grinning a bit, and the earth dragon slayer now knew that Lucy was truly elite to pull off a spell like this.

The electric vortex had been aimed at Juvia from Team Fairy Tail B, who was actually Marina from Team Aqua Kyogre, but the green-eyed girl had enough sense to run near the bar where the members of Fairy Tail had been partying last night before Natsu's little video shocked everyone. The real Juvia was still zonked out in the bar because of Marina spiking her drink, unable to move, and Marina jumped down into a puddle of water that she quickly created to get out of the electrical vortex's way. Really, was Team Aqua Kyogre enjoying their smarts or the fact that they never liked people to attack them?

Lucy's attack had struck the bar where the members of Fairy Tail would be drinking, creating a massive yellow blast of Lightning Magic, and its high amount of electricity was enough to wake Juvia up while she was screaming in pain from this electrifying move. Bar Sun was completely obliterated by the attack while it continued to cause great pain to Juvia, and the shock waves from the blast of lightning had destroyed several nearby buildings as well. They ripped through Crocus, showing off the fearsome power of Lucy's happy clone, and that electric vortex would probably break a Magic Power Finder with the smallest amount of contact.

The Rain Woman was fried while she fell to the ground, blacking out once again, and Lucy had gained five more points for Team Sabertooth. It was a pretty cheap shot to take out someone who could not handle a drugged drink, especially since intense amounts of lightning were now surging through Juvia's body, and Lucy had won another battle. Even though it had never even officially started, that battle resulted in Fairy Tail losing one more participant in the survival tournament. Could Jellal, Laxus, and Gajeel possibly be the shocking trio to try and turn things around? However, even if they wanted to, they wouldn't be able to gain enough points to take the lead away from Team Sabertooth.

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><p><strong>Near the library...<strong>

Upon hearing that nearly all of the Fairy Tail mages had been taken down by Lucy's clones and their spells, Shelly could only giggle with delight at the fact that her plan had now worked. She had kept Fairy Tail from winning the Grand Magic Games this year, she made their guild implode by having Marina mess with the love life of Natsu, and some of the fairies were close to their deaths. She had been happy to see that the power of Lucy's evolved spells was at such a high level, maybe even near Shelly's level of skill, but the black-haired woman narrowed her blue eyes while knowing that she had to fight against the real Lucy Heartfilia now.

This meant that Shelly would truly be taking this seriously against Lucy and Sting, battling them with her elite attacks, but was it truly fair for an expert in advanced spells to really be taking on a girl who only just started using them? Lucy looked totally ready to fight against her rival, determination building up in her cocoa brown eyes while she wanted to take down Shelly for some respect to be gained from the dark mage, and Lucy also thought that beating Shelly would keep her from trying to kiss Sting. This was one rivalry that needed to really be settled, but Lucy would not be handling this by herself.

Sting would be by her side, assisting her with the fight against Shelly, and he had some business to settle with her. After all, when he remembered how Lucy's Wind Magic caused her to crash into Shelly, that was when the battle between the two girls had really started. His battle against the tanned criminal had never actually been finished, so this was a good opportunity for some payback to be sent towards Aqua Kyogre. After all the times that Shelly had tied with Lucy, the two girls were finally going to have a match with an actual winner emerging from it. Of course, knowing that Shelly came from a dark guild, things would not be really fair.

As the spell book had now turned pink, Lucy decided to start off this match by using the ninth spell of Heavenly Body Magic. It was known as Astral Sphere, and this spell made a pink sphere appear in the palm of her right hand. Seven small pink stars floated around the sphere, showing how this was the evolved version of Heavenly Sphere, and Lucy threw it towards Shelly! The attack was about to create seven large pink blasts of energy in midair, causing damage to the space around it, but Shelly smirked a bit while making a mirror out of ice to stop Lucy's attack from going an inch farther.

The seven large pink blasts transpired, all of their energy focused into one point, but Lucy and Sting both gasped in shock at what they were seeing. The icy mirror had completed negated that large move, not even having a single crack, and Shelly giggled while telling her blonde rival that the water of her advanced spells was dense enough to handle almost any substance. It could possibly even stop a few powerful strikes from the mighty Laxus, making Lucy bite down on her lower lip while she knew that stronger spells would be needed in this battle against Shelly.

Sting sternly glared at Shelly, before aiming his White Dragon's Roar straight at the dark mage, but Shelly snapped her fingers to make her ice mirror break apart. The ice shards floated in front of Sting's attack, diverting the white light into different directions, and Lucy was able to dodge a beam that came her way. She knew that this fight was not going to be easy, mainly because of Shelly negating a high-level spell like it was nothing, and she could guess that the ice was in or near a glacial state for it to have so much density. Really, she was going to turn this into quite a pain for the two mages from Team Sabertooth.

Lucy activated the tenth spell of Heavenly Body Magic, looking fierce as she would not let her rival negate this attack, and it was known as Meteor Waves. Seven meteors came down from the sky at high speeds, turning pink as they were gaining power on their descent, and the rocks cracked open to reveal seven large energy waves. They all headed straight for Shelly, ready to strike her at high speeds while she simply smirked, and Sting threw in his White Dragon's Holy Ray attack to make many beams of light try to strike his foe.

All of the attacks created pink and white blasts of energy, their power being at high levels, and Lucy gave Sting a lovely kiss on the lips while knowing that no one could possibly fend off against their teamwork. When the smoke cleared up, however, Sting narrowed his blue eyes while he could hear the sounds of glass breaking. The powerful spells had sent Shelly down to the ground, but her body was cracking apart like a shell while every part of her had turned white like ice. Water was coming out of what appeared to be an icy shell, as the ice began to melt away, but where had the real Shelly gone to?

Suddenly, Sting told Lucy in a concerned tone while his nose picked up on the scent of Shelly, "Lucy, look out! She's about to strike us!"

However, his warning came too late. As Lucy gasped in shock, Shelly emerged from the icy air behind the two mages to deliver a harsh kick to Lucy's left side! The powerful impact of her kick had sent the blonde mage crashing through a nearby building, making it now seem unstable, and Sting knew that he had to go help his girlfriend. In an effort to distract Shelly, Sting used a new spell known as White Dragon's Laser. This move made him fire ten thin beams of white light from his mouth, making them all move in curved trajectories to have a better chance of striking Shelly, but the antagonist simply countered his attack.

She spun around in a rapid manner while surrounding herself in a large twister of water, combining it with Ice Magic to generate cold air, and Shelly smirked evilly while seeing Sting's beams of light get deflected at other parts of the street. Every time they struck a building or the ground, a large blast of white light would transpire! However, it faded away to reveal that large icicles had been left behind to replace the blasts when they were gone. Lucy even found herself being propelled through the air by a blast that had struck the building she crashed through, and she landed on her stomach next to Sting.

Lucy did not want to lose against Shelly, especially after how hard she had worked to reach this point, and she slowly found herself able to stand up while panting heavily. Her rival was definitely using her best tactics in this fight, able to utilize two types of magic in a decent combo with each other, and Lucy was at a disadvantage with only her Heavenly Body Magic being used right now. She decided to call upon the eleventh spell in the pink book, and this move would surely determine whether Lucy was still in this fight or just about ready to give up. It was called Meteorite Mash, and this spell made a pink aura surround Lucy's body while she looked pretty fierce.

She commanded her attack to come down from the sky, watching in delight as many star-shaped projectiles of energy were homing in on Shelly, and their power was coming from the heavens. They became faster and stronger with every passing second, ready to take down Shelly for good, but the black-haired woman simply shot out a copious amount of small blue bubbles from her mouth. They canceled out Lucy's projectiles, effectively stopping them while creating a large cloud of smoke in the air, and that left the blonde girl with only one spell remaining. Tears fell from her cocoa brown eyes, having only one evolved spell left to use, and Lucy knew that it was hopeless. (Really, wasn't this starting to remind you of Ash versus Tobias in the Sinnoh League?)

The exhaustion of using three high-level spells was now taking its toll on Lucy, making her feel weak while she panted heavily, and the blonde mage could barely stand while knowing that it would be bad to let down Team Sabertooth when things had been going so well for them. She did not want to look bad in front of Sting while she had fighting so hard to impress him, so Lucy knew that this final spell had to count. She had to use a spell that was at a lower level, not having enough energy for the twelfth evolved spell to be used, and Lucy decided to go with Heavenly Slice.

However, just as Lucy was about to use that spell, Shelly quickly appeared in front of her rival to deliver a harsh kick to her abdomen. She wasn't going to let Lucy try and make anymore stupid moves, since her magical power was almost depleted down to nothing, and Shelly created a white ball of icy energy in her hands. She smirked evilly while throwing it straight ahead, and the ball exploded into a large white blast of energy when it hit Lucy! The attack surrounded her, making her feel icy explosions hitting her from every direction, and Lucy screamed in pure agony at the pain she was feeling. She was sent sliding across the hard ground, which really must've hurt, and seeing her be exhausted had made Shelly laugh at how Lucy had thought she was so strong.

The tanned female commander from Aqua Kyogre asked Lucy in a teasing tone, squatting down by her side after walking over to the blonde girl, "Wow, what a shame. You do have a lot of creativity with those spells, Lucy Heartfilia, but you truly failed to realize that our levels of experience with advanced spells were just too far apart for this to be a close battle. Your clones beat all those people from Fairy Tail and Lamia Scale, sweetie, but beating a bunch of weaklings is really no reason for you to think you're hot stuff. I even gave you three types of magic, yet you still can't defeat me. It's quite a shame that you and Sting couldn't even work well together against me, but you did work well with me to destroy Fairy Tail. You're still weak, but you're also beautiful and useful to me. After all, the book is why-"

Before Shelly could continue berating Lucy, her attention was diverted to yet another Lacrima Vision screen appearing in the sky. Marina had just been beaten by Rufus using Memory Make: Aquatic Sealing, causing Marina to be hit quickly by a small bubble from the mouth of Rufus while his move reduced the powers of her Water Magic and Ice Magic to zero, so that meant five more points for Team Sabertooth. Even though the teal-haired girl lost the match, as she fell to her knees, she still smirked in a delighted manner at the fact that Fairy Tail now had zero chance of winning.

With 160 points for their total score, as well as the city being too damaged for anymore powerful battles to take place, Team Sabertooth had been deemed the winners of this year's Grand Magic Games. The crowd cheered with joy, many fans of Lucy hoping for Sabertooth to win, but the only people on the team that weren't happy had to be Lucy and Sting. Lucy had really wanted to take down Shelly, truly hoping to make that be the final battle to decide who would be the stronger of the two rivals, but Lucy had been completely outclassed by her rival's advanced spells.

Sting had also wanted to take down Shelly to keep her from kissing him, also wanting to show her that she couldn't make Lucy join Aqua Kyogre, but the white dragon slayer could only look frustrated at how he couldn't even protect Lucy in this battle. She was in a lot of pain from Shelly's last attack, her body numb from how cold it was, and Sting truly saw the flaw here. Him and Lucy were so fixated on powering up the spell book, yet they didn't realize that its full potential had mostly come from Lucy's chemistry with Sting. She was so driven by revenge for the spells to be powerful, but all of that hate left barely any room for her to show some love.

Lucy told Shelly in an unhappy manner, tears streaming down her face while she looked up at her smirking rival, "Back at the hot spring, I was right. Shelly, you totally are stronger than me. You're much stronger than me, and I was no match for you at all. Still, I hate how you battled me with advanced spells when you've got more experience with them. It's just not fair, and I can't even move because my body's numb. I was so ready to prove that I could beat you, but I still failed to truly win..."

Those were Lucy's last words to Shelly, as she felt utterly exhausted from using up so much magic in one day, and the blonde mage sighed sadly while closing her cocoa brown eyes. As she had let herself fall to the taste of defeat, something that had not come her way in quite a while, Lucy could only bite down on her lower lip to not scream from this failure. She had not wanted to let Shelly win, and Lucy felt even worse about the fact that none of her spells got through Shelly's advanced defenses. Would she now have to bow down to Shelly, showing her respect, or would Lucy ever be strong enough to defeat her rival? More importantly, could she and Sting regain their spark for love to truly let their flowers of teamwork begin to bloom?

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><p><strong>How was Chapter 26? Did you like it? I apologize for making Lucy lose at the very end, since there was buildup about this battle, but this failure was meant to not make Lucy into an overpowered character. Her clone for Fire Magic will be shown later on, and this story will get more of the StiCy romance that it needs. Anyway, will Lucy think about Shelly's offer? Will Sting be there to help her get over this loss, and will the two of them develop more love? Standby for the update! <strong>


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. Hiro Mashima does. This story was made for fun, and not for cash. (How unfortunate.)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 27: Love, Hate, and Strategy<strong>

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><p>After the entire city of Crocus had been repaired with magical power to look as perfect as it always did, all of the teams were back in their respective booths. Well, one team wasn't. They were out on the sandy battlefield being congratulated by Mato and all of the judges for the five-day tournament. Rogue had been smiling calmly while he held the golden trophy in his hands, something that made Natsu become angry at seeing, but he was silenced by Erza hitting him on the head and reminding him how he caused the discord in Fairy Tail. That had majorly played a role in both teams losing, and it was mostly Natsu's fault.<p>

If the situation had been totally altered, with Natsu never getting that whip cream all over Marina's shirt while she had been spying on Fairy Tail, then the fire dragon slayer would never have had a reason to even chat with the teal-haired girl in Fairy Hills. When they had first gotten in bed together like that, Natsu's desire for more romance pretty much caused Fairy Tail to fall apart. After all, two teams with major signs of dysfunction were clearly not going to be able to have any signs of cohesion for the group. Natsu had let himself be charmed by Marina's beauty and perfume, not knowing that it would cause Fairy Tail to now become the third-strongest guild in Fiore.

Even though Marina's team got second place in the Grand Magic Games of X792, she could only hug Shelly while giggling evilly at the fact that Fairy Tail had gotten creamed so badly. Aqua Kyogre did have a big role in causing Fairy Tail to have quite a streak of losses, especially in the survival tournament, and some people in the stands were still shocked about a dark guild being here. The icy mages with watery abilities were certainly powerful, possibly even being rivals with the Oracion Seis or Grimoire Heart, and it was now proven that Fairy Tail couldn't take down an underrated threat.

As the crowd was cheering for Sabertooth, some people took notice of the fact that Lucy and Sting were missing. Orga had thought that those two were just making out somewhere, but Yukino looked a bit concerned while knowing that she had seen their battle against Shelly on the Lacrima Vision screen. Lucy had always wanted to defeat her rival, aiming to be much better than Shelly, but her best efforts were just not good enough for the prospect of winning. It wasn't her fault that Shelly had been hiding some of her best moves for that battle, giving Lucy quite a shock, and the difference in strength between both girls was quite wide.

Lucy's body had been numb from the icy attack that Shelly used to break her streak of victory, making the blonde girl unable to move while she felt coldness all over her body, and it had been pretty sad to see Lucy cry while she had to admit defeat to her tanned rival. It was so frustrating for her to feel so futile in a battle that she wanted to win, a victory that really would've made her feel like she was strong, and Yukino could guess that Lucy was very upset over the fact that her new spells could not defeat Water Magic and Ice Magic with the respective properties of being so dense and glacial.

Sting was also pretty miffed about his loss against Shelly, totally wanting to take down that flirty criminal from Aqua Kyogre, and he had also failed to protect Lucy from harm. Neither of them thought that Shelly would be so tough to beat, since Lucy had gained so much power in the other battles, but it was clear that the black-haired woman was on a level higher than the skills of Erza Scarlet. After all, Shelly's sea of black magic was actually the finishing move that nearly washed away Erza's chances of even still being alive.

Even though Yukino knew that Team Sabertooth had just won, she knew that Lucy and Sting were both feeling down about their defeat at the hands of Shelly. That was probably another reason why they were unable to show up at the closing ceremony for the Grand Magic Games, and Yukino also knew that Lucy did not want to see Shelly right now. She must've felt really broken, mainly in spirit, and Yukino knew how it felt to be confident about fighting in a match before losing it easily. Even Kagura couldn't beat Shelly, and Team Aqua Kyogre was truly powerful.

As the four members of Team Sabertooth walked out of the stadium to reach the inn that their teammates were now staying at, Yukino told her friends in a calm tone while looking concerned, "Lucy-sama and Sting-sama are both really upset over their loss, but they still tried their best. We still won the Grand Magic Games, and we need to make them feel happy about that. They had one loss, but it's nothing to really be ashamed of. We should try and find a way to cheer them up, and let them know that they can succeed next time."

Rogue added in a calm manner, looking stern while explaining the dilemma to Yukino, "It may seem like just a loss, Yukino, but Lucy is upset about losing a battle to her rival. You see, the battle between Lucy and Shelly had a winner this time. For Shelly to outclass Lucy like that, as well as beating down a guild master like Sting, it's got to be making them both feel really down. However, we really should find a way to make them feel better. Last year, we had no bond of nakama in our guild. This would be the best time to show Sting and Lucy that even if they fail in battles, we're still here to support them."

Yukino knew that something had to be done for her friends to be happy again, but she also knew that rushing their emotions away would solve nothing. Lucy would have to talk about what went wrong in that fight, and Sting would also have to tell Yukino about what went wrong. She had initially thought the idea of counseling them would be good, but Lucy and Sting also needed to talk this out with each other. It would keep them both distracted while Yukino would be planning a special event for them, something that would truly make her friends have smiles on their faces.

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><p><strong>One hour later, at the Fairy Tail guild...<strong>

Erza still could not believe that Natsu would be stupid enough to cheat on Lisanna with Marina, making Fairy Tail have much more drama than the fire dragon slayer's explosive conflict with Lucy, and the guild had pretty much imploded. Everyone on both teams could only look disappointed or miffed at how it all went down, not expecting to lose so badly against two other guilds, and people like Cana had even went to go bathe for the prospect of a hot shower taking away the bruising pain of Fairy Tail's ultimate losses.

They had a rough start on the first two days, mainly because of Team Aqua Kyogre messing with them, and the fourth day with the tag-team battles was not exactly the best day ever for Fairy Tail. On top of that, losing to Lucy and her clones made from auras had really caused people to feel down. They had not thought she was weak, but Erza was just shocked to see Lucy team up with Shelly. Team Aqua Kyogre was definitely trouble, which was clearly true to Erza, but Gray had a different view of the whole thing while he sat down at a table with her.

The ice mage saw the trouble to really be Natsu, and Fairy Tail losing in the Grand Magic Games could actually be a large cloud of bad karma for what happened at the very start of Lucy's heartbreak. Gray was glad to have made amends with Lucy, since he truly was sorry about seeing her get hurt and not doing anything to help her out, but he also knew that Fairy Tail losing an awesome mage like Lucy was what had really damaged the guild's chances of winning. Not only was the blonde girl powerful now, but Lucy had been like the glue that held everyone together.

She was the nice girl who could always encourage her friends to do better, always making people feel happy when they were down, and Gray could only narrow his dark blue eyes when he led that back to Natsu being at fault for hurting Lucy's feelings. He did not have to cheat on her like a total jerk or make this big plan for people to not even talk with Lucy about anything, and being excluded like that had truly made her feel hurt. She only wanted love with Natsu, but he was just too disloyal to even really love her. Natsu even gave Lucy drama when she entered Fairy Tail one last time to get her guild mark removed, and Gray could tell that all of the hell that Lucy was put through would come back to bite Fairy Tail. It certainly did, in the form of a girl named Marina.

If Natsu had not cheated on Lucy, then she never would've had to endure silence from her old friends in Fairy Tail. They always did tend to fight harder when she had been in trouble, always wanting to protect her, and Lucy never deserved to feel so alone. Just because Lisanna told Natsu about her feelings for him, he could've refused or told her that he truly loved Lucy. However, Natsu's one wrong decision last year that involved being with Lisanna had truly caused the chain of events that would cause Fairy Tail to now be looked down upon. In fact, people in Magnolia even bought DVDs of Natsu's steamy nights with Marina.

"Hey, everyone. You know, the things that we all say are very important. Our actions speak just as loud as our words, maybe even louder, but I think that some of you have been thinking about why we lost. It was not because of me, Erza, Cana, Mira, Juvia, and Lisanna failing to win. I can bet that's what Natsu has been saying, but you know what? He is the one who actually caused us to lose because he cheated and lied to Lucy. You all saw how hard she fought against us, and I respect her choice of being pissed off at us for ignoring her, but Natsu and Lisanna over there are mainly the ones who caused us to lose." Gray explained to everyone in the guildhall while looking stern, letting them know that following a dumb guy like Natsu had caused them all to get hurt.

Lisanna replied in a miffed manner, looking spiteful while she and Natsu sat at different tables, "For your information, Gray, I'm not even with Natsu anymore. He's the one who cheated on me with Marina, and I'm the one who feels hurt because of what he did! It's strange that you say how I helped Natsu caused the guild's downfall, yet he's the one who fell for Marina and didn't mind when Team Aqua Kyogre was kicking our butts! As for Lucy, we didn't know how to tell her that Natsu was with me! She would've freaked out over it, and I saw how she teamed up with Shelly to fight Erza! You act like Lucy is such a good girl, but a good girl wouldn't team up with an evil woman."

Gray countered Lisanna by saying that she had no right to confess her feelings to Natsu when she clearly knew that he was in a relationship with Lucy. He also found it hypocritical to see her act like a victim when she was cheated on, since she knew what her intentions were when Lucy had to go through six months of being played with Natsu. Also, Lisanna had people to comfort her. That really cushioned the painful feeling of falling hard for someone and landing on the concrete floor of being dumped, but Lucy had no one in Fairy Tail to cushion her fall. She felt all the pain of the heartbreak with no one even helping her to get through it, and it was all because of the plan that Natsu made with Lisanna for them to have their own happiness.

Some people like Gajeel and Levy had agreed with Gray about what he had said, and they had also believed that Lucy was like the glue that kept everyone from having conflicts with each other. When Lucy left the guild, everyone began to point fingers at either Natsu or other people. There were people like Juvia and Jellal who did not even care about the fact that Natsu had been sneaking around with Lisanna behind Lucy's back, and the people who did not really care that much about Natsu's affair or thought he would screw up had enough intuition to see that the departure of the blonde mage would wreak havoc in Fairy Tail.

Even though she was not in Fairy Tail anymore, some people like Laxus respected her for how she fought in the survival tournament. The lightning dragon slayer did not even care that Lucy lost to Shelly, since he could guess that Lucy was pretty tired from how her clones and summoning Celestial Spirits used up so magic, and he smirked a bit while folding his arms. Even though she lost to Shelly in the Grand Magic Games, Laxus could tell that their battle in the Grand Fiore League would be where Lucy would win. If they did get to battle, Laxus also thought that Lucy's skills would be enough for her to take on the Elite Four as well.

As everyone had their mixed reactions about the situation focusing around how Fairy Tail had lost, the guild's entrance door opened up to reveal that Mira had now gotten the mail for today. There were many magazine subscriptions, letters from pen pals, and there was a bill for Natsu. Mira cheerfully giggled while walking over to Natsu's table to hand him the aqua blue envelope, and the fire dragon slayer opened it up to see that its contents contained a few sexy pictures of Marina. She even did some nude modeling for Natsu as well, making him aroused, and seeing him blush while looking goofy had made Lisanna start thinking as she could not stand the idiocy of her ex. If things were so bad for her, how was Lucy feeling?

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><p><strong>At the Sabertooth guild...<strong>

While Yukino and the others were planning to do something special in the guildhall of Sabertooth, Lucy had been laying in the bed that was in her dorm room. She was under the comforter, getting to feel some much needed warmth that made the cold air from Shelly's icy attack begin to subside, Lucy could only sigh in an unhappy manner while she sadly looked down at her pillow. It was good that Sabertooth had managed to become the best guild in Fiore again, mainly thanks to Aqua Kyogre giving them some help, but Lucy still felt crushed by the fact that she lost to her rival.

Shelly had used spells that were so powerful, so very defensive to cancel out Lucy's moves, and Lucy had truly seen the true power of the black-haired woman. She was definitely on a higher level, using spells that Lucy thought were impossible to make, and the blonde girl felt hurt by the fact that she had actually struggled against Shelly in their first few battles. She had been holding back, not even using the cold ice that had made Lucy's body feel numb, and having to admit that Shelly won was something that hurt Lucy's pride. Tears streamed down her face while she knew that relying on magic by itself was not good, and even a single kick from Shelly felt like tremendous pain.

The loss against Shelly in the survival tournament was not the only thing that made Lucy cry, but it seemed like she had been underestimated. Maybe that's why Shelly never used any of her powerful moves in their earlier battles, even though they would've taken out Lucy with one hit, and it was pretty insulting to be tying with the tanned woman when she had not even been fighting at full strength. Shelly had even told Lucy that she was not strong because the mages from Fairy Tail were weak, and fighting them a bunch of lame enemies to get a win streak was not exactly the move. When Lucy accepted Shelly's help to fight Erza, she had not even known that she was playing into Shelly's hand by helping her crush Fairy Tail.

As Lucy had tossed and turned in her bed, she even felt bad about always getting upset at Shelly for getting sexy or flirty with Sting. Lucy always kept acting like she could take her rival to keep her charms from seducing Sting, but her eyes were red and puffy while she cried more at the fact that she wasn't strong enough to protect him. Now she saw why Shelly always felt free to seduce him, and it was because she knew that Lucy was weaker than her. Shelly knew that the blonde girl could not take her down, not at her current level, and Lucy slid under the comforter while wondering if this loss could possibly make Sting leave her to be with Shelly.

Lucy's mind had also flashed back to when she had been in that large cloud of gas with Shelly, the tanned woman telling her that she was becoming more like a girl who belonged in Aqua Kyogre, and Lucy had even bowed down to Shelly. She admitted that the weaker girl in their rivalry was definitely her, since she was full of sweetness and light, but had Lucy truly enjoyed being bad? Shelly let her blonde rival know that she was still very useful to Aqua Kyogre, even though she was less beautiful, but did Lucy really want to seek power over love? After all, love strengthened her powers. She slid up to see over the comforter, hearing a soft knock on her door, and it was open because she forgot to close it. Sting surprisingly opened the door, making Lucy curious as to why the white dragon slayer wanted to see her.

He asked Lucy in a calm manner, frowning a bit while knowing that she was really feeling the pain of losing to Shelly again, "Are you still feeling down about that loss we had today? It really was a reminder to let us know that we don't know all of her skills, right?"

She replied with tears in her eyes, feeling unhappy with how the battle had turned out, "I really wanted to believe that I could beat her, Sting... I fought so hard to prove myself against Shelly, making spells that she wouldn't be able to beat, and she just overpowered me so easily. It hurts to think that I kept saving you from being seduced by her, but she was holding back in our first few battles. I had been underestimated by her, Sting, and that's why she flirts with you so much! She thinks that I'm weak, and I even admitted that I was weaker than her! I couldn't protect you, and we couldn't win! I hate losing so easily, like at the Oceanic Museum!"

Sting knew what it felt like to lose, and he also hated to fail in a fight. Jiemma had told him last year that he was not fit to be a member of Sabertooth, but Lector had let his best friend know that he could grow stronger by experiencing failure. Besides, Sting could also guess that Lucy had not fought Shelly at full strength because of her clones using up so much magical power. Even the dark energy consumed lots of stamina as a recoil effect, so Lucy's clones were not even at full power. She had fought Shelly with hardly any energy, not prepared for the battle, but a loss didn't really matter if the two girls could fight again one day.

Lucy and Sting were both so bent on seeing the powers of the book, and they had lost the romantic spark that glued them together. When they first became teammates, which dated back to when Lucy only had three types of magic, their chemistry was shown so much. It had been so lovely to see, especially when Sting had returned the kiss that was given to him by Lucy, and the blue-eyed male wondered how that spark could come back. Their love had been what truly guided them to victory many times, always having total chemistry for each other, and Sting closed the door behind him while locking it to give himself some private time with Lucy.

He knew that she was feeling really down about losing to Shelly, seeming utterly crushed by how she had been looked down upon by a stronger girl that could try taking Sting from her, and Sting knew that Lucy was not entirely to blame for that loss. It was not her fault that Shelly had tricked her into creating those clones, really depleting her magical power, and the black-haired woman was very manipulative. She even formed an alliance with Lucy to take out Fairy Tail, and their little team had obviously gotten disbanded after Team Sabertooth had enough points to win the Grand Magic Games.

Even though she lost, Sting was still happy to see that Lucy tried her best in the survival tournament. It was true that she had lost her way by getting so caught up in taking Shelly down, but she could still become stronger. The two girls could always have a rematch one day, even if it had to be in the desolate ruins of an ancient place, and Sting knew that Lucy would win. All she really needed to do was find the glue of love that had helped her romantic feelings get sticky with her confidence and her desire to win, so that would help Lucy have a better shot at winning against Shelly. It would also make her love life seem less tense, too.

Sting kept trying to think of a way to show Lucy that their love could be revived to how great it was in the beginning, but he sighed a bit while knowing that soothing words would seem like false hope right now. She wasn't going to get out of this depression right away, especially since it had only transpired a few hours ago, and Sting thought that the best option right now would be to just leave her alone for a while. Love certainly was a complicated thing, and Sting was about to walk out the door as he unlocked it. However, as he was about to leave, the sounds of Lucy getting out of bed had put Sting's departure to a halt.

"Wait, Sting. Please don't leave me... I just feel horrible about how I kept failing to protect you from Shelly, and she kept on flirting with you to prove that I was weak! I've been so upset over how we on different skill levels, and she had just been playing around with me! I really want to become stronger, much more powerful than Shelly, but I keep having these doubts in my mind... I don't know what to do, Sting. I always believed that my spells would make me into a better mage, but you saw how Shelly fought us with those advanced spells. It's just not fair." Lucy told him in a pleading manner while tears ran down her face, as she gently tugged on his coat.

Sting replied in a calm manner while turning around to face Lucy, smirking a bit, "It's true that you're very different from Shelly, Lucy, but you actually have a quality that she doesn't possess. It's not as flashy, but just as important. Shelly's clever moves might make her a splendid genius, but your will to never give up also makes you a genius. You've done an excellent job to strengthen your spells and make them look great, but I think that both of us know that the battles you fought today were not how you truly fight. You can become stronger, but your clones showed me and yourself that you let your emotions and grudges overtake you on the battlefield. When you can control your feelings, many things will get better for you."

As he gently rubbed his girlfriend's bare back, letting her know that there were some things that she needed to work on, Sting could only smile while he locked eyes with Lucy. He blushed a bit while seeing that she was only wearing white lingerie, her cleavage bouncing a bit as she pressed her body against his, and the blonde mage seemed a bit more calm as she looked up into Sting's beautiful blue eyes. They always made her feel so soothed, like the calming waters of a hot spring, and feeling warmth from the white dragon slayer had made Lucy begin to remember how she shared a wonderful first kiss with him.

It was very loving, feeling her lips press against his, and even spending time with him had really made Lucy be happy. She began to have the epiphany of seeing that revenge in the form of malice did not truly make her good, but it was her great love with Sting that actually made her feel really happy. After being cheated on by Natsu, as well as being lied to by most of the guild members, Lucy could see that moving on in her love life was the best form of revenge. Getting harmful payback on people would just spread the strife, and that was certainly not good for anybody. Shelly may have made her believe that power was what she wanted, but it was actually love that was more important.

Lucy was about to give Sting a warm kiss for his speech that made her feel good, but she let out a large fart while her stomach began to growl. Sting chuckled a bit at how hungry his girlfriend had seemed, since she had not eaten any lunch, and the fact that he could smell gourmet food on the way to her room had let him know that someone was trying to throw a party. As Lucy blushed pink, looking embarrassed about what just happened, she could also detect the smell of food coming in from the space underneath the door to her room. Someone was having a party, and it would be rude to not attend.

She quickly made Sting leave the room while needing to change into something that was much better to wear at a party, and Lucy smiled happily when Sting came back for a moment to kiss her on the cheek. She blushed with joy at how her love life was now getting a little bit better, even though some things needed to be worked on, and Lucy could tell that her love with Sting had finally gained back its warm white light. Even though she had lost to Shelly, Lucy told herself that she would get another chance to get even with her evil rival. She may not have had Shelly's beauty, brains, or muscles, but Lucy smiled a bit while knowing that getting stronger involved having to do some training.

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><p><strong>Meanwhile, in a hot spring near the guild...<strong>

While Yukino and the other members of Team Sabertooth had gone out to get supplies for the party that they would throw for Lucy and Sting, Wendy had been invited to a special meeting with Shelly from Aqua Kyogre. It was pretty rare for anyone to get an invite from a thief for some casual talk, especially if they were from a guild that had been overlooked by the Magic Council, and the young blue-haired girl had to really wonder if Shelly was foolish to bathe in a hot spring near Rustboro Town. After what went down with Lucy, those two girls might've ended up arguing over Sting if they crossed paths again.

Wendy had seen how Shelly easily took down Lucy in that last match, not even showing the littlest bit of mercy, and it was clear that Shelly was much more powerful. The rivalry between them was just weird to Wendy, knowing that both women were like older sisters to her, and she did not care about the fact that Shelly was evil. In fact, the black-haired woman had even thought about helping Wendy on jobs sometimes to try out a unique Unison Raid that could combine air with water. It was never good for Wendy to see her friends fight, though, so she looked a bit nervous while wondering what Shelly wanted to talk about.

She was in her small green plaid bikini while making her way towards the hot spring, ready to at least enjoy a relaxing bath, and Wendy hoped that this meeting would go well. She couldn't really scold Shelly for anything, since nothing illegal had ever been done, and Wendy was just going to show respect to a powerful mage who was filled with power. Shelly did have a few flaws, since she did tend to be really flirty with her enemies, but Wendy knew that Lucy and Shelly had to stop fighting over Sting. It really wouldn't be good for him to be fed up with their quarreling, since that would make him possibly prefer Minerva over them.

As she walked through the forest near Rustboro Town, her brown eyes were filled with a bit of delight upon finding the secret hot spring. It had actually been one of the places that led to Aqua Kyogre's guild, even though Wendy had once been inside the dark guild with Carla, and this hot spring wasn't as big as the one that Lucy fell into with Sting. Wendy stepped into the boiling waters of the hot spring, immediately feeling relaxed from how good it felt, and she let her body sink down into the water. The blue-haired girl only had her head above the water, and she smiled happily from seeing that Shelly was bathing right beside her.

She was wearing a lacy white bikini that made her look absolutely beautiful, letting it show off her curves when she looked very relaxed in the bubbling water, and Shelly gently hugged Wendy while she was glad to see that her young friend had now arrived. They did need to have a little bit of a casual talk, something to really lighten the mood after what had happened earlier today, and Shelly wanted to tell Wendy about some things that were on her mind. They might've had to deal with the matter of Lucy, since the blonde girl became famous around Aqua Kyogre, and Wendy could see her friend letting out a soft breath before she spoke.

"Hello, Wendy. I'm really glad that you came out here to talk with me, and I just need to tell you that Lucy was really weak against me. She wasn't able to handle the defenses of my strongest moves, and I just feel a bit happy about how she admitted that I was far superior to her. It's about time that she stopped letting her pride get the best of her, Wendy, but Lucy is still very useful to me. It was splendid to see her take down those fools from the guild of Fairy Tail, and I think that you were right about what you once said. Lucy and I should start being more cohesive." Shelly explained with a calm smile on her face, keeping her head above the water to ruin the red lipstick that she had applied to her lips.

Wendy replied in a kind manner, smiling softly while she didn't want Shelly moving too fast, "Lucy-sama is hurt right now, Shelly-sama. She really wanted to beat you today, but she just couldn't do it. Even Sting was upset, but you shouldn't get too comfortable. Before you know it, Lucy will be fighting with you again to protect Sting. She really enjoys being with him, and they love being together. I know that they're both hurting from their loss, but your victory over Lucy and Sting might help them get closer to each other. You helped their chemistry rise up by beating them down, Shelly-sama."

From hearing those last words, Shelly gasped a bit before she looked at Wendy with a shocked look in her aqua blue eyes. Beating down the blonde girl and the white dragon slayer should've made them both feel crushed to the point where Lucy would want power from Aqua Kyogre, but her actions had brought them closer to each other? Shelly had helped their romance get better, and she had done something that was nice? The feeling of doing something that was indirectly good had made her shudder with disgust, not wanting to look like a saint to anyone, and Shelly knew that Lucy would realize this.

She did not want to have her book-wielding rival try to even say that she was a good person, since she was even darker in nature than Minerva ever could be, and this definitely made the infamous thief start thinking. If flirting with Sting would make Lucy fired up, only for her to get beaten down in the actual fight, then a change of strategy was needed. After all, it would be irritating for Shelly to see more losses make more love. Taking the book by force would not work, and she also could not make Sting fall in love with her. The plan needed Lucy to get stronger, strong enough to help Aqua Kyogre get a legendary treasure, so Shelly simply had to strengthen her moves.

Wendy had said that Shelly and Lucy could work well together, which proved to be true because of their combination attack against Erza in the Grand Magic Games, and the two girls had been acting like friends. Shelly definitely could be trusted by Lucy in that alliance, but Sting did not trust her at all. He knew that the tanned woman was a very sneaky thief that could deceive anyone to get what she wanted, and Shelly's conflict with Lucy was because of Sting. He was turned off by her, not attracted to Shelly's beauty at all, but Shelly sighed happily while blushing a bit. She truly did think that Sting was cute, and all she really needed was some alone time with him.

* * *

><p><strong>Later that night, at the Sabertooth guild...<strong>

Everyone in the Sabertooth guild had bought supplies for the party that Yukino really wanted to have tonight, totally ready to help her celebrate this joyous event, and they knew it was going to be a pretty great night. The dessert table had been fully stocked with delicious sweets that consisted of chocolate cookies, brownies, cakes, honey buns, pies, cream puffs, donuts, sweet cookies, cupcakes and many bowls of ice cream in different flavors. This was quite a sugary assortment for what would be a pretty great party, right?

The snack table was filled with bowls of Doritos in the nacho cheese flavor, bowls of Pringles in different flavor, burgers, hot dogs, steak, cheese pizza, chicken tender, sandwiches, fish sticks, and chicken nuggets on their respective plates. There was also a table for refreshments with many cups while there were many two-liter bottles of Sprite, Coca-Cola, orange soda, Pepsi, ginger ale, blue raspberry soda, root beer, and grape soda. This was going to be the best party ever, and everyone had really put all of their money and efforts into making it be appealing.

Rogue had even bought a three-layered white chocolate cake that would be cut together by him and Yukino, but Rufus had used his Memory-Make Magic to make a force field of energy surround the cake. This was most likely done to prevent anyone from getting greedy with taking the cake before the fiancees would cut it, and it would also prevent the cake from being damaged if a fight were to break out. The force field was also strong enough to endure a troublemaker's most powerful attacks, so the cake really had no chance of being hurt.

The music was already playing while Orga was being the DJ, scratching the records back and forth while he stood behind the table, and he had selected the best music tracks to be played an awesome event like this. He had started things off with the Japanese song known as _Saikō - Everyday!__, _and it was one of Lucy's requests. (It's the 13th opening in the Pokemon series, if you want to know what song I'm talking about.) This was one of her favorite songs, since it did seem to have a pretty great groove, and some techno music would be played in the late hours of the night. Fairy Tail may have been too rowdy, but who said that Sabertooth couldn't have a rave? After all, they totally deserved it for winning the Grand Magic Games.

Lucy wore a short tight-fitting emerald green mini dress that laced upward from the back, showing off some of her nice cleavage in the front as well, and she had wore some pale green high heels to match her sexy dress. She had her beautiful blonde hair down once again, looking very cute, and she also wore a green ribbon on the right side of her head. Anyone could say that she looked pretty attractive, but she was only hoping to receive flattery from the guy who was the love of her life. Sting had only changed into a blue tuxedo because of Rogue urging him to look classy for Lucy on this night to celebrate a joyous victory, and he hoped that Lucy would like his style.

The two mages had been sitting down at a table together, blushing in bliss while they were happy about tonight being the best night of their lives, and Sting could only smirk with confidence while he looked straight into Lucy's cocoa brown eyes. Her enchanted facial expression could only let him know that she was thinking about spending the rest of her life with him, wanting to be with the guy who could make all of her dreams come true while they would continue to have many great adventures, but the hyped up party music had made Lucy cheer while she got up out of her seat to dance along with the track that was playing.

"Wow, this is the greatest party ever! The music is awesome, the food is totally great, and the soda is really delicious! The coffee machine and the breakfast machines still work, though, but we can save those for the sunrise when it comes around. We can't really thank you all enough for throwing such a big party, and it's so awesome! Yukino, you and the others are the best planners ever!" Lucy told her friend in a happy tone while smiling, before giving her a well-deserved hug.

Yukino replied in a kind manner while she wore a beautiful light blue dress, "Well, we all had to do something that would cheer you two up. After all, it really made us feel concerned to see you two being so down about losing to Shelly. Besides, you should really look on the bright side of that conflict. Thanks to your loss against your rival, it might help you two bond more and show the love of a great relationship. Shelly might've actually helped you two improve your chemistry, so be happy that a bad person did such a good thing."

Upon hearing the last part of the Celestial Spirit Wizard's response, Lucy looked a bit shocked by finding it to actually be true. Lucy and Sting had always been close together, and Lucy would show her love for Sting by not letting Shelly have him. Getting beaten by the woman with aqua blue eyes had only made Lucy strive to do better, and she would be proud to stay in the guild of Sabertooth. Power was not the most crucial thing that she needed right now, and her love for Sting would truly start make her life feel much smoother.

As she noticed that Sting was putting a few slices of cake on her plate, definitely making things sweet for her, Lucy sat back down in her chair to taste the chocolate cake. She dug into it with a spoon, since there weren't any knives or forks on the table, and Lucy put the small portion of cake into her mouth. When she tasted the goodness of the chocolate, Lucy's cocoa brown eyes twinkled with delight. She proceeded to eat more of the delicious cake while Sting ate some other slices of it, and this was a sweet night for both of them. They were now feeling good, and it was all thanks to Shelly.

Lucy could also see that more food was being brought to the party while people were working well together, and Sabertooth was full of joy. Even though she had lost the battle against her devious rival, the blonde girl knew that she would have a second chance to take her down. After all, with Sting by her side, things would start to get better. The duo knew that their cohesion and chemistry were starting to be ignited again, their love making them both feel happy, and Lucy was the glue that united Sabertooth for joy while Fairy Tail seemed to be coming apart in despair.

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><p><strong>How was the 27th chapter? Did you like it? There will be more romance on the way, and I have some ideas for a new arc in this story! Merry Christmas to you all, and standby for the update!<strong>


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